The Uninformed Voter & Democracy

The political ignorance of the adult American is one of the best-documented features of contemporary politics (Bartels, 194). For example, a 1995 survey conducted for The Washington Post by Harvard University and the Kaiser Foundation found that nearly half of all adults could not answer basic questions about U.S. government, much less specifics about issues and officeholders or candidates (Chavez, 14A). In particular, the survey found that 40 percent of adults could not name the vice president, and almost half failed to identify the speaker of the House (Chavez, 14A).

Consequently, many political theorists argue that many voters neither know nor care enough about the democratic process to cast intelligent, informed votes (See Chavez, 14A). They argue that democracy entails more than a willing electorate. Those who vote have a responsibility to understand the political process and know something about the issues and candidates before they enter the polling booth. Conversely, those who cannot be bothered to educate themselves jeopardize democracy with their ignorance. Thus, they argue, the country would be better served if the ill informed stayed home on Election Day (Chavez, 14A).

However, despite the obvious documentation of the political ignorance of the adult American, political theorists argue about the actual significance of such documentation. For example, Dahl has argued that such ignorance is a natural and unavoidable feature of democratic politics (Bartels, 194).

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an effect on their voting behavior and does have an effect on election results. In particular, Bartels's study confirmed that political expertise profoundly affects political choice and he argues that his findings have broader implications regarding citizen rationality and the nature of mass-elite linkages (Bartels, 194). Specifically, Bartels's study revealed that many voters would change their votes when they are fully informed on relevant issues. In particular, political expertise leads to higher levels of economic issue, ideological and issues voting. However, Bartels study also demonstrates that poorly informed voters do have rational bases for their political choices. All voters are capable of issue voting, as those who know relatively little about politics use sociotropic judgments to guide their votes (Bartels, 194). In other words, poorly informed voters use their political power as a reward or punishment to the incumbent administration. Thus, they will vote to maintain an administration if they are satisfied with its performance generally, while voting to oust an administration with which they are dissatisfied. Thus, Bartels states that while it is tempting to question the rationality of voters who ignore ideological an

Category: Government - T