Media Myth Debunked: Republicans Are More Informed About Politics Than Democrats
A consistent media contention is that liberals and Democrats are far more informed about politics than conservatives and Republicans.
A recent study from the Pew Research Center quite debunked this myth:
Republicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge. The largest gaps are in awareness of which party is more supportive of reducing the size and scope of the federal government (30 points) and which party is more conservative (28 points).
Republicans also are 21 percentage points more likely than Democrats to know that the GOP is more supportive of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. [...]
Republicans also are more familiar with the partisan affiliation of two leading Democrats – one from the present, Nancy Pelosi, and one from the past, Franklin Roosevelt. Three-quarters (75%) of Republicans know that Pelosi is a Democrat, compared with 59% of Democrats. And while 73% of Republicans identify FDR as a Democrat, just 58% of Democrats do so.
Independents also are less knowledgeable than Republicans about the parties’ positions on a number of issues and the affiliation of some political leaders. Notably, independents (71%) are less likely than Republicans (85%) or Democrats (84%) to know that John F. Kennedy was a Democrat.
Although this is certainly good news for the Right, one has to be truly saddened by the number of people on either side of the aisle that can't answer all these questions correctly.
I finished the test in about a minute scoring 100 percent. Only eight percent of respondents so far have gotten a perfect score.
Sheesh.
Take this remarkably simple test yourself and see how you do compared to the rest of the nation.
(H/T Pat Dollard)
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Comments
Would that liberals and Democrats were just a ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 12:27am.
media myth.
Come to think of it, though, ---.
MD
"You scored better than 92% of the public"
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:08am.
And that's sad....
I took it. 13 out of 13 and a profound sense of sorrow for our republic.
Me too.
Submitted by P. Aaron on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:52am.
We didn't even get any hard questions about which political party is friendlier to dogs.
We REALLY need a like button
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:14am.
:)
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
➚ It's a trick question
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:19am.
As long as the consumption of canine is for the purpose of assuming "the power" (Obama's words) of the animal, we must be very respectful of that religious belief.
Personally, I'm not interested in licking myself.
roh roh....
Submitted by Mark81150 on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:58am.
raaaawwwhh wraagy....
:-P
Me too
Submitted by KornKing on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 9:37am.
13 of 13, but the big question is: "how would that make the deer and the birds feel"?
Likewise, ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:28am.
which garnered a less than profound realization of why this country is in deep trouble.
MD
Technically, I answered only 9 of 13 correctly...
Submitted by Jer on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:32am.
but after adjustments allowed Democrats for inherent test bias and submitting a short essay describing my disadvantaged childhood, I was awarded a perfect score!
Yippee.
Jer
jer
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 6:55am.
Now that was funny!!!
Ronald Reagan
Sorry, Jer, you get one marked incorrect, regardless.
Submitted by UpNorth on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 4:09pm.
That's for gender norming. Sexist. Then, you have to share your correct answers with those who are more disadvantaged than you.
I would love
Submitted by sybilll on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:35am.
to post this over at DU, FDL, or MotherJones to see how they would do. I got 13/13 easily.
Not surprising
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:48am.
These are such easy questions but most people have very little real interest and/or working knowledge of politics, government and current events.
I'd be curious to know how many people would miss the old classic giveaway, "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?"
Maybe someone should do a "man" on the street survey.
Missed conclusion: Don't like scores higher
Submitted by mooseburger on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 2:38am.
Most interesting is the fact that Boehner's affiliation is best known by democrats and least by republicans.
it is as if people who are upset better pay attention if it affirms their affiliation.
just as nancy pelosi and roosevelt 's affiliation is better known by the republicans who like them the least.
lesson: negativity hightens political awareness.
mooseburger
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 6:57am.
Interesting conclusion. I think it's more that they are/were divisive/perceived as such, and reported as such, and so it stuck in people's heads.
Ronald Reagan
Very, very sad...
Submitted by Mean Gene Dr. Love on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 2:54am.
I got a perfect score as well. Those were all no-brainer questions. Very saddening that less than 1 out of 10 people can get them all correct.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Whoa!
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:15am.
Look who stuck his head in here.
Welcome back, Mean Gene. It's been a while.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
An easy ace
Submitted by Rukus on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 3:37am.
Sad that 92% couldn't get all 13 very easy questions.
Test
Submitted by OldmanRick on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 6:16am.
Sad that 92% of the respondents(potential voters) didn't score 100%. I'm going to blame it on our dumbed down, public, education system.
Republicans better informed
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:09am.
And I suspect that's just the way Democrats like it.
100%
Submitted by sarainitaly on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:08am.
Scary that 92% of the peeps didn't get 100%...
The Democrats do very well in
Submitted by forest on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:35am.
The Democrats do very well in the idiot demo.
That's troubling when you look at the increasing numbers of idiots.
The test
Submitted by Boudin on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:47am.
Doesn't ask party affiliation? So how can it make the distinction?
I got em all, and doubting that Jer only go 9-13
That test was only selected
Submitted by Outback Jon on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 10:58am.
That test was only selected questions from the actual survey.
I think people dont really
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:49am.
I think people dont really think too much about who is running the country and dont care. The media and the parties are the ones stirring the emotional pot in the public. Most people just want to carry on with their lives. When people do notice it when life affects them and then they want answers.
100% here as well...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:08am.
...and I'm just a...
So sad!
Blame the media!
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
Gaaaahhhhh
Submitted by CO2Maker on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:15am.
The Pew, the plowed, the morons.
Who can't ace that test?
What color is the sky?
- Blue
- Not blue
What color is the sky at night?
- Blue
- Not blue
Topics not covered in the short survey:
Health care
Debt
Did you notice this disclaimer: The quiz was made up of 13 questions excerpted from the larger Knowledge Survey. Your responses do not affect the survey results.
I couldn't find the larger "Knowledge Survey." Did Pew ask a much longer list of questions and then extract these 13 to form a distinct survey? Is that legitimate? Is that a proper technique in survey methodology and analysis? Seems like a form of cherry-picking.
So, the "poor, uneducated,
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:17am.
So, the "poor, uneducated, and easy to command" comprise the base of which party??
-facepalm-
Submitted by Kaleidoscopic God on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 9:13am.
Just how stupid do you have to be to get anything but a 100 on this quiz?
Pathetic
Submitted by ZmanCav on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 9:49am.
I ace'd that test in about a minute. But of course the Lib-tards think they know more, it goes with their self-righteous assumption that they are the enlightened "progressive" ones and anyone who disagrees is either stupid or brainwashed. No surprises with reality here.
You would think with the entire media apparatus supporting Obama
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 9:57am.
that everyone would score 100%. Quite interesting from a psychiatric point of view.
A neuropsychiatrist (well, like me!) would wonder if one of three things are at play: a) Republicans are less susceptible to media spin; b) Democrats are more gullible to media spin; and/or c) Democrats and liberals are automatons who believe any propaganda thrown their way. Personally, I think options "b" and "c" fit.
➚Drsam
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 10:07am.
Right now, I'm deeply impressed that President Obama, whose campaign is greatly helped by NAZI collaborator George Soros, is speaking at the Holocaust Museum.
Hey, give him a break
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:17am.
He at least got the name of the prison camp his great uncle liberated correct this time. Finally.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
➚ I noticed that
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:24am.
Does he know the names of the Slaves his great-great-grandpa owned?
Has he paid them reparations?
Same here DrSam......
Submitted by dyardley on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 2:09pm.
What really frightens me is that these people are actually going to vote in the most critical election of our time. I also got 100%
It would be interesting
Submitted by johnsonl on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 10:28am.
to see the results if this test were given to graduating college seniors. It would be even more interesting to give the U.S. Citizenship test to them.
would love to see
Submitted by caveman1313 on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 10:38am.
would love to see how chris matthews would score on this test. i suspect he would not score 13/13 because at a minimum he would say that Lincoln was a democrat
better than 92%..
Submitted by Mark81150 on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:54am.
100% as well... 13 out of 13 correct.
I'd be surprised if most all of the folks who read this site did't score a bullseye on this test.
Many of the poll questions were screaming for a 3rd option
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:10pm.
Which should have been: A political party that hasn't been created yet.
BTW - I got 13/13.
Too easy, that was.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
my happiness
Submitted by Dave the mailman on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 1:47pm.
Was short lived. I got 13/13, but then it sunk in....just how stupid is the "average" person if they miss those questions?...
I got a 100 on it, and scored
Submitted by TheLoudDreamer on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 3:28pm.
I got a 100 on it, and scored better than 92 percent to the public........? Im a teenager! That's pathetic!
Interesting...
Submitted by unkeeaf on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:12pm.
I took the test and got all 13 correct. Nothing unusual there for political junkies like those of us on this board, however, I also gave it to my 16 and 12 year old sons. I've discussed politics and current events with both since they were little, so I was interested in seeing how they'd do. My 16 year-old scored a perfect 13 and my 12 year old scored 11 (he missed GOP!).
Not bad when you consider the trash lining up to vote for Democrats don't even know if that Commie Pelosi is one of them. Pathetic.
Same here
Submitted by Nay on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:52pm.
On the way to Jr High this morning I handed it to my 14 yr old to take the test. She missed GOP and Boehner. (she didn't recognize his name in print). Otherwise she was spot on!
Funny...
Submitted by unkeeaf on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:42pm.
My 12 year old missed the exact same two. A 12 and 14 year old smarter than 90%+ of the Democrat voting base.
Who are the dummy 25% of GOP'ers who thought Pelosi was GOP?
Submitted by gopcongress on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 8:06pm.
The survey stated that 75% of Republicans correctly id'd Pelosi as Democrat. I wonder how the other 25% were stupid enough not know Pelosi was a lib and claim they were GOP?
I suspect poll trolls.
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