Uninformed: Why People Seem to Know So Little about Politics and What We Can Do about It

361 Pages·2015·3.16 MB·English

by  Arthur Lupia

Uninformed

Uninformed
Why People Know so Little about Politics
and What We Can do about It
arthur lupia
University of Michigan
1
1
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© Arthur Lupia 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lupia, Arthur, 1964–
Uninformed : why people know so little about politics and what we can do about it /
Arthur Lupia.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Political socialization. 2. Political participation 3. Civics—Study and
teaching. 4. Citizenship—Study and teaching. 5. Education—Political
aspects. 6. Education—Social aspects. I. Title.
JA76.L865 2016
320—dc23
2015025315
ISBN 978–0–19–026372–0
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
In memory of
William Henry Slack Jr.
Buffalo Fire Department, U.S. Army, Purple Heart, hero
and
Thomas John Mroz Jr.
Your zest for life, family, and politics continues to inspire.

Contents
List of Figures and Tables  ix
Acknowledgments  xi
1. From Infinite Ignorance to Knowledge that Matters  1
2. Who Are the Educators and How Can We Help Them?  5
Part I: The Value of Information
3. Three Definitions  25
4. The Silver Bullet  33
5. The Logic of Competence  40
6. Lost in the Woods  61
7. Attracting Attention  66
8. Building Source Credibility  81
9. The Politics of Competence  96
10. Value Diversity and How to Manage It  105
11. Complexity and Framing  132
viii Contents
12. Political Roles: Who Needs to Know?  149
13. Costs and Benefits  164
Part II: How to Improve “Political Knowledge”
14. What We Know  191
15. Reading the Questions, Understanding the Answers  198
16. Political Knowledge Scales: Something
Doesn’t Add Up  218
17. Assessing Information Assessments  240
18. All in Good Measure  261
19. The Silver Lining  283
Notes  291
References  305
Index  323
List of Figures and Tables
FIGURES
2.1. Information that Matters  15
5.1. How Information and Knowledge Affect
Competence: A Global View  59
8.1. Image from Fliegende Blätter, October 23, 1892  84
10.1. Support for the Tax Cut by ANES Post-Election
Information Rating 128
10.2. Differences in Support for the Tax Cut
by ANES Post-Election Information Rating 129
12.1. Two Cases of “Splitting the Difference”  154
18.1. A Question from the IEA Civic Education Study  270
TABLES
5.1. Logical Relations between Knowledge
and Competence  42