Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-d8cs5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-25T17:20:14.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is It Simply Gender? Content, Format, and Time in Political Knowledge Measures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2018

Monica Ferrin ,
Marta Fraile  and
Gema García-Albacete
Monica Ferrin
Affiliation:
Collegio Carlo Alberto
Marta Fraile
Affiliation:
European University Institute & Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (IPP)
Gema García-Albacete
Affiliation:
Carlos III University of Madrid
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Theories of democracy commonly assume that citizens must have a certain degree of information and factual knowledge to be able to understand the functioning of institutions, the performance of the incumbent government, and the actions of the main political actors. Political knowledge helps people to better assess their interest as individuals and as members of groups (Delli Carpini and Keeter 1996). Moreover, governments have more incentives to be responsive when they can be held accountable, but citizens are able to hold governments accountable for their actions only when they know what governments are actually doing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 162 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant numbers CSO2012-32009 and CSO2016-75090-R] and of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociologicas (CIS).

References

REFERENCES

Aalberg, Toril, Blekesaune, Arild, and Elvestad, Eiri. 2013. “Media Choice and Informed Democracy: Toward Increasing News Consumption Gaps in Europe?” The International Journal of Press/Politics 18 (3): 281–303. doi: 10.1177/1940161213485990.Google Scholar
Althaus, Scott L. 2003. Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics: Opinion Surveys and the Will of the People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Barabas, Jason, Jerit, Jennifer, Pollock, William, and Rainey, Carlisle. 2014. “The Question(s) of Political Knowledge.” American Political Science Review 108 (4): 840–55. doi: 10.1017/S0003055414000392.Google Scholar
Benesch, Christine. 2012. “An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Gap in News Consumption.” Journal of Media Economics 25 (3): 147–67. doi: 10.1080/08997764.2012.700976.Google Scholar
Bonte, Werner. 2015. “Gender Difference in Competitive Preferences: New Cross-Country Empirical Evidence.” Applied Economics Letters 22 (1): 71–75. doi: 10.1080/13504851.2014.927560.Google Scholar
Boudreau, Cheryl, and Lupia, Arthur. 2011. “Political Knowledge.” In Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science, ed. Druckman, James N., Green, Donald P., Kuklinski, James H., and Lupia, Arthur. New York: Cambridge University Press, 171–83.Google Scholar
Burns, Nancy, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Verba, Sidney. 2001. The Private Roots of Public Action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Rosie, and Winters, Kristi. 2008. “Understanding Men's and Women's Political Interest: Evidence from a Study of Gendered Political Attitudes.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties 18 (1): 53–74. doi: 10.1080/17457280701858623.Google Scholar
Coffé, Hilde. 2013. “Women Stay Local, Men Go National and Global? Gender Differences in Political Interest.” Sex Roles 69 (5–6): 323–38. doi: 10.1007/s11199-013-0308-x.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip E. 1964. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and Discontent, ed. Apter, David E.. New York: Free Press, 206–61.Google Scholar
Curran, James, Coen, Sharon, Soroka, Stuart, Aalberg, Toril, Hayashi, Kaori, Hichy, Zira, Iyengar, Shanto, Jones, Paul, Mazzoleni, Gianpietro, Papathanassopoulos, Stylianos, Rhee, June Woong, Rojas, Hernando, Rowe, David, and Tiffen, Rod. 2014. “Reconsidering ‘Virtuous Circle’ and ‘Media Malaise’ Theories of the Media: An 11-Nation Study.” Journalism 15 (7): 815–33. doi: 10.1177/1464884913520198.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Keeter, Scott. 1996. What Americans Know about Politics and Why it Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Keeter, Scott. 2000. “Gender and Political Knowledge.” In Gender and American Politics: Women, Men, and the Political Process, ed. Rinehart, Sue Tolleson and Josephson, Jyl. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 21–52.Google Scholar
Dolan, Kathleen. 2011. “Do Women and Men Know Different Things? Measuring Gender Differences in Political Knowledge.” The Journal of Politics 73 (1): 97–107. doi: 10.1017/S0022381610000897.Google Scholar
Eveland, William P. Jr., and Schmitt, Josephine B.. 2015. “Communication Content and Knowledge Content Matters: Integrating Manipulation and Observation in Studying News and Discussion Learning Effects.” Journal of Communication 65 (1): 170–91. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12138.Google Scholar
Ehrlinger, Joyce, and Dunning, David A.. 2003. “How Chronic Self-Views Influence (and Potentially Mislead) Estimates of Performance.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 (4): 5–17. doi: 10.1037/a0017452.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, Jennifer. 2013. “What Does ‘Political’ Mean to You?” Political Behavior 35 (3): 453–79. doi: 10.1007/s11109-012-9212-2.Google Scholar
Fortin-Rittbergger, Jessica. 2016. “Cross-National Gender Gaps in Political Knowledge: How Much Is Due to Context?” Political Research Quarterly 69 (3): 391–402. doi: 10.1177/1065912916642867.Google Scholar
Ferrin, Monica, Marta, Fraile, and Garcia-Albacete, Gema. 2017. “The Gender Gap in Political Knowledge: Is It All About Guessing? An Experimental Approach.” The International Journal of Public Opinion Research 29 (1): 111–32.doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edv042.Google Scholar
Fraile, Marta. 2011. “Widening or Reducing the Knowledge Gap? Testing the Media Effects on Political Knowledge in Spain (2004–2006).” International Journal of Press/Politics 16 (2): 163–84.Google Scholar
Fraile, Marta. 2014. “Do Women Know Less about Politics than Men? The Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Europe.” Social Politics 21 (2): 261–89. doi: 10.1093/sp/jxu006.Google Scholar
Fraile, Marta, and Gomez, Raul. 2017. “Why Does Alejandro Know More about Politics than Catalina? Explaining the Latin American Gender Gap in Political Knowledge.” British Journal of Political Science 47 (1): 91–112. doi: 10.1017/S0007123414000532.Google Scholar
Gibson, James J., and Caldeira, Gregory A.. 2009. “Knowing the Supreme Court? A Reconsideration of Public Ignorance of the High Court.” Journal of Politics 71 (2): 429–21. doi: 10.1017/S0022381609090379.Google Scholar
Kenski, Kate, and Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 2000. “The Gap in Political Knowledge: Are Women Less Knowledgeable Than Men About Politics?” In Everything You Think You Know About Politics …And Why You're Wrong, ed. Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. New York: Basic Books, 83–89.Google Scholar
Kittilson, Miki Caul, and Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie A.. 2012. The Gendered Effects of Electoral Institutions. Political Engagement and Participation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lizotte, Mary-Kate, and Sidman, Andrew H.. 2009. “Explaining the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge.” Politics & Gender 5 (2): 127–52. doi: 10.1017/S1743923X09000130.Google Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 2006. “How Elitism Undermines the Study of Voter Competence.” Critical Review 18 (1–3): 217–32. doi: 10.1080 /08913810608443658.Google Scholar
Luskin, Robert, and Bullock, John G.. 2011. “‘Don't Know’ Means ‘Don't Know’: DK Responses and the Public's Level of Political Knowledge.” The Journal of Politics 73 (2): 547–57. doi:10.1017/S0022381611000132.Google Scholar
Miller, Melissa K., and Orr, Shannon K.. 2008. “Experimenting with a ‘Third Way’ in Political Knowledge Estimation.” Public Opinion Quarterly 7 (4): 768–80. doi:10.1093/poq/nfn057.Google Scholar
Mondak, Jeffrey J. 2001. “Developing Valid Knowledge Scales.” American Journal of Political Science 45 (1): 224–38. doi: 10.2307/2669369.Google Scholar
Mondak, Jeffrey J., and Anderson, Mary R.. 2004. “The Knowledge Gap: A Reexamination of Gender-Based Differences in Political Knowledge.” Journal of Politics 66 (2): 492–512. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2508.2004.00161.x.Google Scholar
Poindexter, Paula, Meraz, Sharon, and Weiss, Amy Schmitz, eds. 2008. Women, Men, and News: Divided and Disconnected in the News Media Landscape. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Prior, Markus. 2014. “Visual Political Knowledge: A Different Road to Competence?” Journal of Politics 76 (1): 41–57. doi:10.1017/S0022381613001096.Google Scholar
Prior, Markus, and Lupia, Arthur. 2008. “Money, Time, and Political Knowledge: Distinguishing Quick Recall and Political Learning Skills.” American Journal of Political Science 52 (1): 169–83. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00306.x.Google Scholar
Robinson, Joshua. 2015. “Who Knows? Question Format and Political Knowledge.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 27 (1): 1–21. doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edu019.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, Michael C. 2005. “Three Options are Optimal for Multiple-Choice Items: A Meta-Analysis of 80 Years of Research.” Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice 24 (2): 3–13.Google Scholar
Ross, Karen, and Carter, Cynthia. 2011. “Women and News: A Long and Winding Road.” Media, Culture & Society 33 (8): 1148–65. doi: 10.1177/0163443711418272.Google Scholar
Shaker, Lee. 2012. “Local Political Knowledge and Assessment of Citizen Competence.” Public Opinion Quarterly 76 (3): 525–37. doi: 10.1093/poq/nfs018.Google Scholar
Shehata, Adam, and Stromback, Jesper. 2011. “A Matter of Context: A Comparative Study of Media Environments and News Consumption Gaps in Europe.” Political Communication 28 (1): 110–34. doi: 10.1080/10584609.2010.543006.Google Scholar
Stolle, Dietlind, and Gidengil, Elisabeth E.. 2010. “What Do Women Really Know? A Gendered Analysis of Varieties of Political Knowledge.” Perspectives on Politics 8 (1): 93–109. doi: 10.1017/S1537592709992684.Google Scholar
Sturgis, Patrick, Allum, Nick, and Smith, Patten. 2008. “An Experiment on the Measurement of Political Knowledge in Surveys.” Public Opinion Quarterly 72 (1): 90–102. doi: 10.1093/poq/nfm032.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Burns, Nancy, and Schlozman, Kay Lehman. 1997. “Knowing and Caring about Politics: Gender and Political Engagement.” Journal of Politics 59 (4): 1051–72. doi: 10.2307/2998592.Google Scholar
Verge, Tania. 2012. “Institutionalizing Gender Equality in Spain: From Party Quotas to Electoral Gender Quotas.” West European Politics 35 (2): 395–414. doi: 10.1080/01402382.2011.648014.Google Scholar
Wolak, Jennifer, and McDevitt, Michael. 2011. “The Roots of the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Adolescence.” Political Behavior 33 (3): 505–33. doi: 10.1007/s11109-010-9142-9.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ferrin et al. supplementary material

Table A1 and Figure A1

Download Ferrin et al. supplementary material(File)
File 53 KB
Supplementary material: File

Ferrin et al. supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Ferrin et al. supplementary material(File)
File 33.2 KB