Knowledge and Partisan Bias

Abstract

The conventional argument in studies of political knowledge among members of the general public is that greater interest and engagement in politics leads to a better grasp of the relevant facts. However, this may not always be the case: When the facts themselves become politicized, interest and engagement in politics may mean learning the facts not as they are, but as competing partisan and media elites want them to be. In this article, based on the 2010 Polish National Election Survey, we investigate the following questions: Does partisanship boost incorrect perceptions of contested facts when the correct answer is unfavorable to the respondent’s preferred party? Does partisan/ideological selectivity in exposure to media outlets do likewise? Are stronger partisans more likely to be misinformed about politically contested facts even if they are knowledgeable about the uncontested ones?