Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics

March 15, 2015

A democracy falters when most of its citizens are uninformed or misinformed, when misinformation affects political decisions and actions, or when political actors foment misinformation—the state of affairs the United States faces today, as this timely book makes painfully clear. In Do Facts Matter? Jennifer L. Hochschild and Katherine Levine Einstein start with Thomas Jefferson’s ideal citizen, who knows and uses correct information to make policy or political choices. What, then, the authors ask, are the consequences if citizens are informed but do not act on their knowledge?...

Critical Review Article Now Available as Free E-Print

August 19, 2013

SHOULD THE MASS PUBLIC FOLLOW ELITE OPINION? IT DEPENDS . . .

ABSTRACT: John Zaller’s finding that members of the public usually follow
elites’ cues may seem normatively disturbing. If true, it might be taken to obviate
the need for democracy or to show that elites are manipulating the public.
However, as long as the public sometimes fails to follow elites, we can judge cases
of public followership according to independent criteria, such as whether the
public’s occasional rebellions against elite opinion further liberal-democratic or
utilitarian purposes. A review...

Paperback edition of Outsiders No More?: Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation is now available from OUP

July 31, 2013

Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars to consider pathways by which immigrants may be incorporated into the political processes of western democracies. It builds on a rich tradition of studying immigrant incorporation, but each chapter innovates by moving beyond singular accounts of particular groups and locations toward a general causal model with the scope and breadth to apply across groups, places, and time.
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Creating a New Racial Order

February 23, 2012

The American racial order--the beliefs, institutions, and practices that organize relationships among the nation's races and ethnicities--is undergoing its greatest transformation since the 1960s. Creating a New Racial Order takes a groundbreaking look at the reasons behind this dramatic change, and considers how different groups of Americans are being affected. Through revealing narrative and striking research, the authors show that the personal and political choices of Americans will be critical to how, and...

Jennifer L. Hochschild

H.L. Jayne Professor of Government, and Professor of African and African American Studies

News

Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics

Critical Review Article Now Available as Free E-Print

Paperback edition of Outsiders No More?: Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation is now available from OUP

Creating a New Racial Order