Analysis of panel data from Brazil, Mexico, and Russia suggests that presidential campaigns have ambiguous effects on inequalities in political knowledge. In all three countries, the “knowledge gap” among citizens with different levels of socioeconomic resources stayed the same or widened. At the same time, less affluent and educated citizens who paid a great deal of attention to the campaign learned more than equally attentive high-status citizens. These findings suggest that modern, media-intensive electoral campaigns do provide information to low socioeconomic status citizens in readily digestible form, but they fail to stimulate sufficient attention to politics among these citizens to close the knowledge gap.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Almond, Gabriel, and Sidney Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
2.
Altman, D., and A. Pérez-Liñán. 2002. “Assessing the Quality of Democracy: Freedom, Competitiveness and Participation in Eighteen Latin American Countries,”Democratization9 (2): 85-100.
3.
Ames, Barry, Andy Baker, and Lucio Renno. 2003. “Preference Instability and Social Networks in a Volatile Campaign: Voter Change and Choice in Brazil’s 2002 Election.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.
4.
Ames, Barry, Lucio Renno, and Andy Baker. 2002. “The Dynamics of Political Attitude Formation in a Milieu of Multiple Weak Parties.”National Science Foundation Grant Proposal (SES #0137088).
5.
Bartels, Larry M.1996. “Uninformed Voters: Information Effects in Presidential Election,”American Journal of Political Science40: 1-1, 194-230.
6.
Bartels, Larry M.2005. “Homer Gets a Tax Cut: Inequality and Public Policy in the American Mind.”Perspectives on Politics3 (1): 15-31.
7.
Berggren, Heidi M.2001. “Institutional Context and the Reduction of the Resource Bias in Political Sophistication.”Political Research Quarterly54 (3): 531-552.
8.
Brady, Henry E., Sidney Verba, and Kay Lehman Schlozman1995. “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.”American Political Science Review89: 271-294.
9.
.Campbell, Angus, Philip Converse, Warren Miller, and Donald Stokes. 1960. The American Voter. New York: Wiley.
10.
Cassel, Carol A., and Celia C. Lo.1997. “Theories of Political Literacy.”Political Behavior19 (4): 317-335.
11.
Conaghan, Catherine M.1994. “Democracy that Matters: The Search for Authenticity, Legitimacy, and Civic Competence in the Andes,”Project Latin America 2000 Series, Working Paper #1. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame, Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies Press
12.
Converse, Philip. 1962. “Information Flow and the Stability of Partisan Attitudes,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 26: 4-4, 578-599.
13.
Converse, Philip. 1964. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In D. E. Apter, ed., Ideology and Discontent. New York: Free Press.
14.
Converse, Philip. 1970. “Attitudes and Non-attitudes: Continuation of a Dialogue.” In E. R. Tufte, ed. The Quantitative Analysis of Social Problems, pp. 168-189. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
15.
Converse, Philip and Georges Dupeux. 1962. “Politicization of the Electorate in France and the United States.”Public Opinion Quarterly26: 1-23.
16.
Delli Carpini, Michael and Scott Keeter. 1996. What Americans Know. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
17.
Diamond, Larry, and Leonardo Morlino. 2004“The Quality of Democracy”Journal of Democracy14 (4): 20-31.
18.
Domínguez, Jorge I., and Chappell Lawson. 2003. Mexico’s Pivotal Democratic Election: Candidates, Voters, and the Presidential Race of 2000. Stanford and La Jolla, CA: Stanford University Press and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California at San Diego.
19.
Donohue, G. A., P. J. Tichenor, and C. N. Olien. 1975. “Mass Media and the Knowledge Gap: A Hypothesis Reconsidered.”Communication Research2: 3-23.
20.
Ettema, J. S., J. W. Brown, and R. V. Luepker. 1983. “Knowledge Gap Effects in a Health Administration Campaign.”Public Opinion Quarterly47: 516-527.
21.
Ettema, J. S., F. G. Kline. 1977. “Deficits, Differences, and Ceilings: Contingent Conditions for Understanding the Knowledge Gap.”Communication Research4: 179-202.
22.
Eveland, W. P. Jr., and D. A. Scheufele. 2000. “Connecting News Use with Gaps in Knowledge and Participation.”Political Communication17: 215-237.
23.
Finkel, Steven. 1995. Causal Analysis with Panel Data. Sage University Paper Series Number 07-105.
24.
Finkel, Steven. 2003. “Can Democracy Be Taught?”Journal of Democracy14 (4): 137-151.
25.
Gordon, Stacy B., and Gary M. Segura. 1997. “Cross-National Variation in Political Sophistication.”Journal of Politics59 (1): 126-147.
26.
Heclo, Hugh. 2000. “Campaigning and Governing: A Conspectus.” In Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, eds., The Permanent Campaign and Its Future. Washington, DC: AEI Press.
27.
Holbrook, Thomas P.2002. “Presidential Campaigns and the Knowledge Gap.”Political Communication19: 437-454.
28.
Jennings, M. Kent. 1996. “Political Knowledge Over Time and Across Generations.”Public Opinion Quarterly60: 228-252.
29.
Jerit, Jennifer, Jason Barabas, and Toby Bolsen. 2004. “Citizens, Knowledge, and the Information Environment.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.
30.
Key, V. O.1967. Public Opinion and American Democracy. New York: Knopf.
31.
King, Gary, Michael Tomz, and Jason Wittenberg. 2000. “Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation, American Journal of Political Science44: 347-361.
32.
Krosnick, Jon A.1990. “Government Policy and Citizen Passion: A Study of Issue Publics in Contemporary America.”Political Behavior12: 59-92.
33.
Kwak, N.1999. “Revisiting the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis.”Communication Research26: 385-413.
34.
Lippmann, Walter. 1993 [1927]. The Phantom Public. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.
35.
Lippmann, Walter. 1998 [1922]. Public Opinion. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction.
36.
Lupia, Arthur, and Mathew D. McCubbins. 1998. The Democratic Dilemma.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Luskin, Robert C.1987. “Measuring Political Sophistication.”American Journal of Political Science31 (4): 856-899.
38.
Luskin, Robert C.1990. “Explaining Political Sophistication.”Political Behavior, 12 (4): 331-361.
39.
Milner, Henry, and Kimmo Gronlund. 2004. “The Determinants of Political Knowledge in a Comparative Perspective.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.
40.
Miyo, Y.1983. “The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis and Media Dependency.” In R. N. Bostrom, ed., Communication Yearbook 7, pp. 269-297. Berverly Hill, CA: Sage.
41.
Mondak, Jeffery J.2001. “Developing Valid Knowledge Scales.”American Journal of Political Science45 (1): 224-238.
42.
Moore, D. W.1987. “Political Campaigns and the Knowledge-Gap Hypothesis,”Public Opinion Quarterly51: 186-200.
43.
Nadeau, Richard, Neil Nevitte, Elisabeth Gidengil, and André Blais. 2001. “Election Campaigns as Information Campaigns: Who Learns What and with What Effect?” Typescript, University of Montreal.
44.
Nie, Norman H., Sidney Verba, and John R. Petrocik. 1999. The Changing American Voter: Enlarged Edition. iUniverse.com
45.
Niemi, Richard G., and Jane Junn. 1998. Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
46.
Neuman, W. Russell. 1986. The Paradox of Mass Politics: Knowledge and Opinion in the American Electorate. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
47.
Price, Vincent, and John R. Zaller. 1993. “Who Gets the News? Alternative Measures of News Reception and Their Implications for Research.”Public Opinion Quarterly57: 133-164.
48.
Prior, Markus. 2005. “News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout.”American Journal of Political Science49 (3): 577-592.
49.
Schattschneider, Eric Edwin. 1960. The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden.
50.
Setzler, Mark H. 2002. “The Acquisition of Political Knowledge and Electoral Accountability in a Developing Democracy: Evidence from Brazil.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 29-September 1, Boston.
51.
Shin, Doh Chull, Chong-Min Park, and Jiho Jang. 2002. “The Growth of Democratic Political Sophistication in Korea.” Studies in Public Policy No. 369. Glasgow, Scotland: Center for the Study of Public Policy. University of Strathclyde Press.
52.
Shin, Doh Chull, Chong-Min Park, and Jiho Jang. 2005. “Assessing the Shifting qualities of Democratic Citizenship: The Case of South Korea,”Democratization12(2) April: 202-222.
53.
Tichenor, P. J., G. A. Donohue, and C. N. Olien. 1970. “Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge.”Public Opinion Quarterly34: 159-170.
54.
Tichenor, P. J., J. M. Rodenkirchen, C. N. Olien, and G. A. Donohue. 1973. “Community Issues, Conflict, and Public Affairs Knowledge.” In P. Clarke, ed., New Models for Mass Communication Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
55.
Tomz, Michael, Jason Wittenberg, and Gary King. 2003. “CLARIFY: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results, Version 2.1” Stanford University, University of Wisconsin, and Harvard University. This program is freely available at http://GKing.Harvard.Edu.
56.
Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism and American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
57.
Viswanath, K., and J. R. Finnegan, Jr.1996. “The Knowledge Gap Hypothesis Twenty-Five Years Later.” In B. R. Berelson, ed., Communication Yearbook 19, pp. 187-227. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
58.
Viswanath, K., E. Kahn, J. R. Finnegan Jr., J. Hertog, and J. Potter. 1993. “Motivation and the Knowledge Gap: Effects of a Campaign to Reduce Diet-Related Cancer Risk.”Communication Research20: 546-564.
59.
Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.2002. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press..
60.
Zaller, John R.1985. “Pre-testing Information Items on the 1986 NES Pilot Survey.” Report to the National Election Study Board of Overseers.
61.
Zaller, John R.1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press.
