Local Political Knowledge and Assessments of Citizen Competence

Abstract

This article contrasts the national and local political knowledge of a random sample of 1001 Philadelphians with the aim of enhancing the scholarly understanding of citizen competence. Empirical study of citizen competence extends back more than 50 years, but the survey data that have been brought to bear upon the topic are almost exclusively focused on national-level politics. Consequently, sweeping conclusions about the competence of the American public have often been grounded in a fairly narrow empirical trench. The comparison in this article depicts a slew of differences in the distribution of knowledge across national and local politics, many of which challenge established notions of who is politically knowledgeable. This, in turn, has implications for which members of society are seen as politically competent and how competent the public as a whole is thought to be.

Comparing Local, National and EU Knowledge: The Ignorant Public Reassessed

“…To sum up, the results show that political knowledge is multidimensional in a way that cuts across different levels of democratic governing. The wider theoretical implication of these results, which are comparable with Shaker's () findings, is the empirical support for the argument that there is no paradox of mass democracy that encompasses all politics because people are not equally ignorant about all aspects of politics. This explanation borrows its logic from the supporters of the issue‐publics theorem and subsequently backs the variable publics model.…”

“…A paradox requires an explanation and several have been offered (see Arnold (2012, 797-8) for a review). This study offers yet another perspective by extending the recent contribution by Shaker (2012). According to the argument, the survey evidence that has (re-)produced the image of the ignorant public is almost exclusively restricted to just one context of politics: the national level.…”

“…Both studies report one notable deviation from the standard picture. Analysing American data, Delli Carpini and Keeter (, 147–50) and Shaker (, 530–1) both find that women are not less knowledgeable than men about local politics. The findings are notable because they challenge an entire body of literature, according to which men know more about politics than women (e.g., Verba et al ; Kenski & Jamieson ; Frazer & Macdonald ; Fraile ).…”

Confidence, Perception, and Politics in California: The Determinants of Attitudes toward Taxes by Level of Government

“…While this approach is consistent with almost every study of political knowledge, it is possible that there is a more complex relationship between political knowledge and tax opinions at lower levels of government than our data is uncovering. As Shaker (2012) has pointed out, there are important differences between those who hold national level and local level political knowledge. Specifically, African Americans and women appear to be more educated about local politics than about national politics.…”

Media Choice Proliferation and Shifting Orientations Towards News in the United States and Norway, 1995–2012

“…Prior research indicates that patterns in individuals' interest in local, national and international news suggest divergent orientations to society (Elvestad 2009;Merton 1968). At a basic level, while international news consumption predicts an awareness of global politics (Curran et al 2009), national and local news consumption predict knowledge about national and local politics, respectively (Shaker 2012). In short, different orientations towards news have implications for citizens' participation in self-governance.…”