In American politics, the truth is rapidly losing relevance. The public square is teeming with misinformation, conspiracy theories, cynicism, and hubris. Why has this happened? What does it mean? What can we do about it? In this volume, leading scholars offer multiple perspectives on these
questions, and many more, to provide the first comprehensive empirical examination of the "politics of truth" -- its context, causes, and potential correctives. With experts in social science weighing in, this volume examines different drivers such as the dynamics of politically motivated fact
perceptions.
Combining insights from the fields of political science, political theory, communication, and psychology and offering substantial new arguments and evidence, these chapters draw compelling -- if sometimes competing -- conclusions regarding this rising democratic threat.
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| Notes on Contributors |
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| The Politics of Truth in Polarized America: Contexts, Concepts, Causes, and Correctives |
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PART I CONTEXT AND CONCEPTS |
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1 Neither Dogmatism Nor Relativism: Lessons from the Politics of Truth in Western Philosophy |
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2 Lies, Damned Lies, and American Democracy |
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38 | (25) |
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3 The Social Function of News and (Mis)Information Use |
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63 | (20) |
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4 The Expressive Value of Answering Survey Questions |
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83 | (30) |
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5 American Hubris: The Politics of Unwarranted Epistemic Certitude in the United States |
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113 | (18) |
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6 The Evolutionary Psychology of Conflict and the Functions ofFalsehood |
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131 | (21) |
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7 Political Subgroups, Knowledge, and Information: Gun Issues and Gun Ownership |
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152 | (25) |
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8 Value Projection and the Marketplace of Realities |
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177 | (23) |
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9 Conspiracy Theories and Political Identities |
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200 | (23) |
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10 Conspiracy Stress or Relief? Learned Helplessness and Conspiratorial Thinking |
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223 | (36) |
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11 Opinion Formation in Light of the Facts: How Correcting Mistaken Beliefs about Income Inequality Affects Public Support for Redistribution |
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259 | (24) |
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12 Can Facts Change Minds? The Case of Free Trade |
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283 | (22) |
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13 Do Facts Change Public Attitudes toward Fiscal Policy? |
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305 | (25) |
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14 Authoritarianism, Fact-Checking, and Citizens' Response to Presidential Election Information |
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330 | (32) |
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15 Combatting the Anti-Muslim Rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential Campaign: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Corrective News |
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362 | (22) |
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16 Citizen Deliberation as a Correction: The Role of Deliberative Mini-Publics in Addressing Political Misperceptions |
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384 | (14) |
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17 Intuitive Politics and Why Thinking Isn't Guaranteed to Save Us |
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398 | (19) |
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| Index |
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David C. Barker is Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, where he co-founded the Program on Legislative Negotiation. He has written extensively on the subjects of American public opinion, electoral behavior, political psychology, political parties, and political governance, including three books: Rushed to Judgment (2002; Columbia University Press), Representing Red and Blue (with Christopher Jan Carman; 2012; Oxford University Press), and One Nation, Two Realities (with Morgan Marietta; 2019; Oxford University Press). His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and many others.
Elizabeth Suhay is Associate Professor of Government at American University. Her research on public opinion, political psychology, and political communication has appeared in The American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Behavior, among many other peer-reviewed outlets, and it has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Russell Sage Foundation. She is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion (with Bernard Grofman and Alexander Trechsel) and the "The Politics of Science" in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (with James Druckman).
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