Democracy and political ignorance: why smaller government is smarter

Item Type

Author

Language

English

Abstract

One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know.The second edition of Democracy and Political Ignorance fully updates its analysis to include new and vital discussions on the implications of the "Big Sort" for politics, the link between political ignorance and the disproportionate political influence of the wealthy, assessment of proposed new strategies for increasing political knowledge, and up-to-date survey data on political ignorance during recent elections. Ilya Somin mines the depths of the current state of ignorance in America and reveals it as a major problem for democracy. He weighs various options for solving this problem, provocatively arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. People make better decisions when they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information-and to use it wisely.

Publication Year

2016

Publication Date

2016

License

ISBN

978-0-8047-9803-7
978-0-8047-9931-7

Physical Description

XIV-291 p.

Publication Place

Stanford (CA)

Short Title

Democracy and political ignorance

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Democracy and political ignorance: why smaller government is smarter, dans Science & Ignorance, consulté le 21 Novembre 2024, https://ignorancestudies.inist.fr/s/science-ignorance/item/5287

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