What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters / Edition 1

by Michael X. Delli Carpini

Overview

The authors explore how Americans' levels of political knowledge have changed over the past 50 years, how such knowledge is distributed among different groups, and how it is used in political decision-making. Drawing on extensive survey data, they present compelling evidence for benefits of a politically informed citizenry--and the cost of one that is poorly and inequitably informed. 62 illustrations. 412 pp.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900300072753
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	09/23/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael X. Delli Carpini is dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Scott Keeter is director of survey research at the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC.

Editorial Reviews

The American public's cynical attitude toward politics is much discussed, but what do Americans really know about politics? Two political scientists provide a detailed examination of who knows what, how much, and why it matters in American politics. Employing survey data of Americans for a nearly 50-year period and utilizing sophisticated statistical techniques, Delli Carpini (Barnard Coll.) and Keeter (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.) find that, while Americans are not as knowledgeable as they should be, they are not completely ignorant of politics and that the level of political knowledge has remained virtually unchanged over 40 years. Among the authors' other major findings: women, African Americans, the poor, and the young tend to be less politically knowledgeable than the rest of the population; and people with higher levels of motivation and skills tend to be better educated about politics. This excellent study places its quantitative research in the context of thoughtful and significant discussions of democratic theory. Recommended for political science students at all levels.Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Library Journal

A demographic spreadsheet of knowledge about electoral and legislative politics relating to the US government. Drawing on both new and existing survey data, finds that many Americans know a lot and many know nothing, and that the proportion has not changed over the past half century. They also find that whites, men, the older, and the wealthier are more informed, more likely to participate in politics, more able to discern their interests, and more savvy in pursuing them, than blacks, women, young adults, and the financially less-well-off. Also suggests approaches to redistributing the knowledge. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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