Partisan Differences May Not Be As Big As Believed

by Stuart Shapiro

Pundits bemoan how polarized we have become.  Bloggers (except for me of course) always seem to be talking past each other.  Heck, surveys have shown that there are partisan differences on facts, not just opinions.

Democrats and Republicans sharply disagree about facts, not just opinions.

Among other things, they appear to think that especially bad things (bigger budget deficits, greater unemployment) happened under presidents of the political party they dislike. Sometimes Democrats and Republicans seem to live in parallel historical universes, in which the course of human events looks radically different, depending on people’s political affiliations.

But are those differences real?  Citing a paper by John Bullock, Cass Sunstein says no:

True, surveys reveal big differences. But if people are given economic rewards for giving the right answer, the partisan divisions start to become a lot smaller. Here’s the kicker: With respect to facts, there is a real difference between what people say they believe and what they actually believe.

Fascinating stuff.  But I’m not sure what’s worse:  People differing on the facts based on their partisan views, or people saying different things than they believe when responding to surveys (and probably when talking to each other).

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.