Political Responsiveness to the Lived Experience

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 6 investigates how partisanship disrupts the process of learning from personal and contextual experiences. The chapter examines what political knowledge means in an information environment that is expressly partisan and asks if contextual effects theory works in the way social science predicts. The data suggest that partisan policy preferences are not reflective of pocketbook concerns—even for individuals who struggle financially. Similarly, the findings suggest that the saliency of crime is not affected by the level of violent crime in the context in which partisans live. Democrats’ and Republicans’ policy preferences on gun control also have no relationship with the level of violent crime in their lived context. Even perceptions about local land use reflect national debates instead of local realities. Only independents’ perceptions of their community are informed by their lived reality and show signs that policy opinions change to reflect personal and community needs.