Widespread political ignorance has persisted despite major increases in education and IQ, and in the availability of information through the media. But economist Bryan Caplan – a leading academic expert on political knowledge suggests a possible solution – the Voter Achievement Test: After years of reflecting on voter cognition,… I’ve come up with a remedy […]
Archive | Political Ignorance
Jack Shafer on the Limits of the Media’s Ability to Increase Political Knowledge
By Ilya Somin on October 8, 2013 7:11 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Media, Political Ignorance
Jack Shafer of Reuters has an interesting column on the implications of my book Democracy and Political Ignorance, and other recent scholarship, for claims that public knowledge of politics can be subtantially increased if only we had more or better media coverage of political issues: The surplus of quality journalism in print, on the Web, […]
My Balkinization Post On the Implications of Political Ignorance for Judicial Review
By Ilya Somin on October 8, 2013 2:53 pm in Constitutional Theory, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Representation-Reinforcement
My final substantive Balkinization guest-blogging post about Democracy and Political Ignorance focuses on the implications of widespread political ignorance for judicial review and the “countermajoritarian difficulty.” For those who may be interested, I addressed the related question of the implications of political ignorance for originalism, in this article.
My Balkinization Post on the Informational Advantages of Voting With Your Feet over Ballot Box Voting
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2013 5:14 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
The latest in my series of Balkinization posts about my book Democracy and Political Ignorance is now up. This one deals with the informational advantages of voting with your feet over ballot box voting.
Duke Leto Atreides on Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2013 10:45 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
I recently noticed that several of Frank Herbert’s Dune books are among the books that purchasers of my new book on political ignorance buy at the same time on Amazon. That brings to mind the following interesting quote on political ignorance by Duke Leto Atreides in Chapter 7 of Dune: “My propaganda corps is one […]
Democracy and Political Ignorance – Response to Two Questions from Orin Kerr
In a recent post, co-blogger Orin Kerr asks two thoughtful questions about the arguments advanced in my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: whether the existence of political parties reduces the dangers posed by ignorance, and whether my argument for smaller government is undermined if it turns out that the public prefers big government. I. […]
My Balkinization Post on Whether Political Ignorance Can be Overcome through Education and Information Shortcuts
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2013 3:48 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance
The fourth in my series of Balkinization guest-blogging posts on my book Democracy and Political Ignorance is now up. It explains why it is extremely difficult to overcome political ignorance through information shortcuts, education, and other conventional strategies for increasing public knowledge.
My First Two Balkinization Posts About Democracy and Political Ignorance
My first two Balkinization guest-blogging posts about my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter are now up. In the first post, I introduce myself and the book to Balkinization readers, and thank Jack Balkin and his co-bloggers for their invitation. The second explains “Why Political Ignorance Matters,” channeling John Stuart […]
Introducing my New Book Democracy and Political Ignorance
My new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter is out in print this week from Stanford University Press. The book argues that widespread political ignorance is a serious problem for modern democracy, one that strengthens the case limiting and decentralizing government, and for robust judicial review. Over the next few days, […]
My Forbes Column on Political Ignorance and the Government Shutdown
The Forbes website recently published an op ed I wrote on public ignorance about the issues involved in the government shutdown. Here is an excerpt: As a government shutdown begins, much of the public knows very little about the issues behind it: Obamacare and the future of the federal budget. An August Kaiser Family Foundation […]
Reality Imitates The Onion on Public Ignorance About Obamacare
In this recent article, The Onion pokes fun at public ignorance about Obamacare [HT: several readers and Facebook friends who alerted me to the article]: As debate continues in Washington over the funding of President Obama’s health care initiative, sources confirmed Thursday that 39-year-old Daniel Seaver, a man who understands a total of 8 percent […]
Steven Teles on “Kludgeocracy” and the Role of Government in Society
By Ilya Somin on September 25, 2013 11:15 am in Federalism, Growth of Government, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion, Separation of Powers
In the fall issue of National Affairs, Johns Hopkins political scientist Steven Teles has an interesting article on what he dubs the problem of “kludgeocracy” in American government: In recent decades, American politics has been dominated, at least rhetorically, by a battle over the size of government. But that is not what the next few […]
Even Mathematically Literate People Become Innumerate when they Focus on Political Issues
At Mother Jones, Kevin Drum and Chris Mooney have interesting posts discussing a new paper by Yale law professor Dan Kahan and his coauthors, which finds that even people who are generally good at interpreting statistics act as if they are innumerate when faced with data that goes against their political views. Mooney summarizes the […]
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on September 6, 2013 8:09 pm in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recently gave a speech lamenting widespread political ignorance in the United States: Two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told the crowd that packed into a Boise State ballroom to hear her Thursday. About one-third can name the three branches […]
Private Schools Increase Political Knowledge and Reduce the Danger of Political Indoctrination
By Ilya Somin on September 1, 2013 6:30 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance
Allison Benedikt’s Slate essay arguing that if you send your kids to private school you are a “bad person” who is undermining the “common good” has drawn many responses. Art Carden, Kevin Grier, Kevin White, and Megan McArdle have pointed out most of the flaws in her logic. But both Benedikt and her critics have […]