Political ignorance reflects lack of opportunity for unhurried reasoning, not low intelligence.

Evidence

These scholars show that if a curious, open-minded researcher offers free, unjudgmental, unhurried contexts for interviewees to reason aloud, instead of getting quizzed about facts and numbers — that most people can become thoughtful, reasoning citizens. If given this rare opportunity, almost everyone turns out to have the potential to think about politics. So, surveys show that most Americans are ignorant; open-ended interviews show that they are not stupid. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1095

Categorization

• QUESTION: This survey-vs-interview gap is worth chasing: what design features of the open-ended interview unlock latent political reasoning capacity?
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader civic-life research — the ‘close to home’ avoidance of politics may itself be an artifact of the contexts in which Americans are asked to reason. — connects to: Apparent political ignorance masks a lack of analytic framework. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 943; Only a small educated minority holds ideologically coherent political beliefs — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 123; Imperial ignorance is an active refusal, not a passive lack of knowledge — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1529 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Imperial ignorance is an active refusal, not a passive lack of knowledge #qualifies (0.80) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1529
• Only a small educated minority holds ideologically coherent political beliefs #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 123
• Political ignorance functions as an effect of cultural discouragement, not merely its cause #expands (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 150
• Most people lack coherent ideological belief systems. #complicates (0.72)
• People learn about politics only when negative events disrupt complacency and trigger attention. #complicates (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1668
• Ignorance as want of knowledge derives from active ignoring as refusal to take notice. #expands (0.72)
• Voter confusion about ideology stems from flawed dimensional assumptions, not ignorance #corroborates (0.72)