The Polarization of Reality
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 110,
May 2020
(pp. 324-28)
Abstract
Americans are polarized not only in their views on policy issues and attitudes toward government and society but also in their perceptions of the same factual reality. We conceptualize how to think about the "polarization of reality" and review recent papers that show that Republicans and Democrats view the same reality through a different lens. Perhaps as a result, they hold different views about policies and what should be done to address economic and social issues. We also show that providing information leads to different reassessments of reality and different responses along the policy support margin, depending on one's political leaning.Citation
Alesina, Alberto, Armando Miano, and Stefanie Stantcheva. 2020. "The Polarization of Reality." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 110: 324-28. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20201072Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior