Democracy in Darkness

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Emily Van Duyn

Chapter 1 discusses the rise of political secrecy amid intensifying political, social, and geographic polarization. It introduces readers to CWG, the secret political organization at the heart of this book, and the contexts in which this group was formed. The existence of CWG and the prominence of political secrecy evident in national survey data suggest that political polarization and prejudice have driven even mainstream Democrats and Republicans to hide their political beliefs. In turn, this chapter argues that if and how people express their political beliefs depends very much on the context they are in, a phenomenon the author calls “networked silence.” Finally, the chapter details why studying political secrecy is important and how this book will approach this topic.

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Osborne ◽  
Yannick Dufresne ◽  
Gregory Eady ◽  
Jennifer Lees-Marshment ◽  
Cliff van der Linden

Abstract. Research demonstrates that the negative relationship between Openness to Experience and conservatism is heightened among the informed. We extend this literature using national survey data (Study 1; N = 13,203) and data from students (Study 2; N = 311). As predicted, education – a correlate of political sophistication – strengthened the negative relationship between Openness and conservatism (Study 1). Study 2 employed a knowledge-based measure of political sophistication to show that the Openness × Political Sophistication interaction was restricted to the Openness aspect of Openness. These studies demonstrate that knowledge helps people align their ideology with their personality, but that the Openness × Political Sophistication interaction is specific to one aspect of Openness – nuances that are overlooked in the literature.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pereira ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris

Political misinformation, often called “fake news”, represents a threat to our democracies because it impedes citizens from being appropriately informed. Evidence suggests that fake news spreads more rapidly than real news—especially when it contains political content. The present article tests three competing theoretical accounts that have been proposed to explain the rise and spread of political (fake) news: (1) the ideology hypothesis— people prefer news that bolsters their values and worldviews; (2) the confirmation bias hypothesis—people prefer news that fits their pre-existing stereotypical knowledge; and (3) the political identity hypothesis—people prefer news that allows their political in-group to fulfill certain social goals. We conducted three experiments in which American participants read news that concerned behaviors perpetrated by their political in-group or out-group and measured the extent to which they believed the news (Exp. 1, Exp. 2, Exp. 3), and were willing to share the news on social media (Exp. 2 and 3). Results revealed that Democrats and Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group, supporting a political identity hypothesis. However, although belief was positively correlated with willingness to share on social media in all conditions, we also found that Republicans were more likely to believe and want to share apolitical fake new. We discuss the implications for theoretical explanations of political beliefs and application of these concepts in in polarized political system.


BMJ Open ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. e009810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Akhtar Hussain ◽  
Rachel R Huxley ◽  
Abdullah Al Mamun

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rukundo K. Benedict ◽  
Hope C. Craig ◽  
Harriet Torlesse ◽  
Rebecca J. Stoltzfus

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyson Wright ◽  
Ray Lovett ◽  
Yvette Roe ◽  
Alice Richardson

Objectives The aim of the study was to assess the utility of national Aboriginal survey data in a regional geospatial analysis of daily smoking prevalence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and discuss the appropriateness of this analysis for policy and program impact assessment. Methods Data from the last two Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) national surveys of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2014–15 (n = 7022 adults) and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2012–13 (n = 10 896 adults), were used to map the prevalence of smoking by Indigenous regions. Results Daily smoking prevalence in 2014–15 at Indigenous regions ranges from 27.1% (95%CI 18.9–35.3) in the Toowoomba region in Queensland to 68.0% (95%CI 58.1–77.9) in the Katherine region in the Northern Territory. The confidence intervals are wide and there is no significant difference in daily smoking prevalence between the two time periods for any region. Conclusion There are significant limitations with analysing national survey data at finer geographical scales. Given the national program for Indigenous tobacco control is a regional model, evaluation requires finer geographical analysis of smoking prevalence to inform public health progress, policy and program effects. Options to improve the data currently collected include increasing national survey sample sizes, implementing a smoking status question in census surveys, investing in current cohort studies focused on this population or implementing localised surveys. What is known about the topic? The last geospatial analysis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking prevalence was undertaken in 1997. Current national survey data have not been analysed geospatially. What does this paper add? This paper provides new insights into the use of national survey data for understanding regional patterns and prevalence levels of smoking in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings of the study suggest caution when interpreting prevalence maps and highlight the need for greater sample sizes in national survey data. The analysis is also an opportunity to assess the use of national survey data in evaluating the policy impact of programs targeted at a regional level.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Bramlett ◽  
Mah-J Soobader ◽  
Susan A. Fisher-Owens ◽  
Jane A. Weintraub ◽  
Stuart A. Gansky ◽  
...  

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