Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship

TLDR

Scholars have documented deficiencies in political knowledge among American citizens and noted that misinformation—confidently held wrong beliefs—has received less attention. The study presents evidence that misinformation about welfare obstructs public education with correct facts. Wide‑spread misinformation can lead to collective preferences far different from those that would exist if people were correctly informed, and it has implications for research on political heuristics, elite persuasion, and issue framing.

Abstract

Scholars have documented the deficiencies in political knowledge among American citizens. Another problem, misinformation, has received less attention. People are misinformed when they confidently hold wrong beliefs. We present evidence of misinformation about welfare and show that this misinformation acts as an obstacle to educating the public with correct facts. Moreover, wide-spread misinformation can lead to collective preferences that are far different from those that would exist if people were correctly informed. The misinformation phenomenon has implications for two currently influential scholarly literatures: the study of political heuristics and the study of elite persuasion and issue framing.