Washington, DC (AHN)-A new Harris poll released Wednesday shows that Americans are only slightly knowledgeable about U.S. politics, while even less say they are familiar with world politics-a percentage that gives rise to the increasingly prevalent sentiment of the "ignorant American."
In a survey of some 2,225 U.S. adults, nearly two-thirds of respondents (68 percent) admitted to being somewhat or not at all knowledgeable about political issues outside the nation's borders, while one-quarter (24 percent) said they were are fairly knowledgeable and just eight percent said they were extremely or very knowledgeable about global politics.
The most common reason cited for the lack of global knowledge was a dislike for learning about this issues, with more than half of respondents saying they do not like learning about political issues in other countries, compared to one-quarter (26 percent) of those respondents who said they like learning about political issues in other countries. Another 17 percent of those surveyed said they strongly like learning about these issues.
When it comes to being knowledgeable about what is going on both at home and abroad, Americans tend to diverge along both gender and partisan lines. For example, more than two in five men (44 percent) say they are "very or somewhat knowledgeable" about political issues in the U.S., compared to one in five women (20 percent) who said the same. Along partisan lines, Republicans (35 percent) are more likely than Democrats (29 percent) to say they are extremely or very knowledgeable of political issues in the U.S., while more of those with Liberal-minded philosophies (42 percent) said they are very or extremely knowledgeable compared to 35 percent if Conservative-minded respondents who said the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment