Reasoning in Politics

Using data derived from a household probability sample of adults in Madison, Wisconsin, this paper describes and analyzes the way in which people think about political issues. Thinking that is general, deductive, and principled is contrasted with concrete, substantive thought. Education, knowledge about politics, and level of anxiety are used as independent variables in examining the way these forms of thought occur among different groups of people. The data lend some support to those who distinguish the form in which people in different social and political strata reason about politics. Such distinctions, however, seem to fade when level of anxiety is controlled. The paper concludes by noting the importance of personality traits in determining the way people reason about politics

Anxiety · Epistemology · Motivated reasoning · Personality · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Law · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

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