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What do americans know about current affairs? Surprisingly little. A recent survey by the Pew Research Centre finds that only around half of adults know the name of the current secretary of state or the capital of Afghanistan. The survey also highlights an interesting divide: between the beliefs of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, on the one hand, and everyone else on the other.
According to Pew, these ideological groups are more likely to correctly answer questions, such as identifying Kim Jong Un as the leader of North Korea or Boris Johnson as prime minister of Britain. Some 83% of liberal Democrats and 80% of conservative Republicans know Catholicism is the main religion in South America, compared with 70% and 67% of their more moderate counterparts.
What explains this? The dominant theory in political science is that a person who is aware of current events is also more likely to know which party best represents their preferences. That enables them to pick the right partisan label. Knowledge, then, is not a product of partisanship and ideology, but a cause of it.
Pew’s study also finds that Americans with “high” knowledge of international affairs (those who answered at least nine of the 12 questions correctly) have different opinions on foreign countries and international organisations to those who are less knowledgeable. Americans with high knowledge are 17 percentage points more likely to have a favourable view of the EU than those with low knowledge (those who answered four or fewer questions correctly) regardless of their political affiliation. Well-informed Democrats and Republicans are also 30 points more likely to see tensions between China and Taiwan as a “very serious problem” for America, and are 16 points more likely to answer that China’s policies on human rights are a threat. At least on some issues, the well-informed on the left and right are more united than you might expect
From the Economist: America’s left and right are less divided than you might expect
Excerpt: Knowledge, then, is not a product of partisanship and ideology, but a cause of it.
Here in the States, we seem to have great divides on many subjects. Health care, Women's rights (Abortion) Taxes on the wealthy, crime and punishment
public transportation, voting rights, Gay rights, separation of church and state, just to name a few.
On MOST subjects, the division is insurmountable. I mean, you're never going to get Pro-choice and you-must-have-that-baby, to ever come together.
Ain't gonna' happen.
I'd just add that the two parties have a vested interest in dividing us, and keeping us fearing each-other and at each-other's throats (so to speak).
"Demonizing an enemy gives power to the powerless!"
Yeah we got a huge problem with highly educated people graduating from college, voting against their own financial intrest for $5,000,000 a year life gaurds and million dollars a year local public servants. Not to mention who the current Vice president isThat is kind of old news. Birds of a feather flock together.
Not trying to sound to cynical but isn't the concept of high knowledge somewhat blurry when the country appears to be following the thinking of the low intelligent?
I mean, you're never going to get Pro-choice and you-must-have-that-baby, to ever come together.
Ain't gonna' happen.
Yeah we got a huge problem with highly educated people graduating from college, voting against their own financial intrest for $5,000,000 a year life gaurds and million dollars a year local public servants. Not to mention who the current Vice president is
Unfortunately america has an education system geared up so that those same high intelligence are the ones getting those million dollar jobsYeah we got a huge problem with highly educated people graduating from college, voting against their own financial intrest for $5,000,000 a year life gaurds and million dollars a year local public servants. Not to mention who the current Vice president is
For the most part there are just 2 sides to every issue with one party representing one side and the other party representing the other. A 3rd party might mix up what sides they represent but it's not really a fresh look at anything. In fact our largest 3rd parties and just extremists views of each side.
In Europe it is the third-parties that make the difference in elections. Because they diminish the overall score of the top two major parties (Left and Right).
The Third Parties can and do reduce the vote on presidential candidates, particularly in France. It is not at all like the US where only two-parties exist and have dominated presidential-politics for a long, long time. Which means that the more popular-candidates are the final winners of elections - but quite unlike the process in a purely two-party system.
Different strokes for different folks ... !
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