In a survey I’m sure most readers haven’t seen reported, Republicans were more knowledgeable on more political issues than Democrats. The Pew Political IQ Test can be found at http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/ If you follow politics, it’s not too difficult a test.
In early October, Pew sampled respondents from both parties and independents, who scored highest in four categories and tied in one. Compared only to Democrats, Republicans scored significantly higher on: what issue cap & trade is related to; who the new Supreme Court justice is; which is the majority party in the U.S. Congress; what the current unemployment rate is; who the Federal Reserve chairman is; and where the Dow Jones Industrial Average is. There were small GOP pluralities on who the chair of the Senate Finance Committee is, do Iran and Israel share a border, and how many U.S. troops are in Afghanistan. The numbers are even on what issue the public option relates to and Democrats have a five-percent margin over the GOP on U.S. versus Europe health care costs. Oh yes, far more Republicans than Democrats also know who Glenn Beck is! For The Weekly Standard’s report on the numbers, go here: Read
Nicole
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 4:06 pm:
Good one, Doug. I know I have felt smarter since leaving the Democratic party.
Oh, and that 5-point (not 5 percent) advantage for Dems on knowing about European health costs is not surprising given the heavy use of that propaganda to promote Obamacare. They tell us Europe spends less on healthcare per person than the U.S.
That’s like saying a AAA ball club spend less per player than the New York Yankees. It says nothing about the QUALITY of the healthcare. I’m sure Zimbabwe spends less on healthcare than the U.S. as well. Ha!
So then they trot out the infant mortality rate, which are also useless numbers because European countries don’t try to save preemies as agressively as we do in the U.S. They don’t even count the premature babies who die as “deaths”. So the ever so slight “advantage” they enjoy in infant mortality rates is a statsitical anomaly due to variations in reporting.
Save the country, educate the Democrats.
Di Lewis
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 4:06 pm:
Crap. I totally got the Senate Finance Com. Chair wrong.
11/12, with no pre-studying though.
Makes me sad that females responded correctly so much less than males did. That seemed pretty strange to me.
Sandra Gibson
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 5:01 pm:
I am a 51 year old Republican female with a 4 year college degree living in the South. I scored 100% !
(I am Doug’s Cousin)
Preston
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 5:45 pm:
I got 11 of 12. I missed on the Dow Jones average; I guessed around 6,000. But that still puts me in the top 5 percentile. Definitely above the average Democrat score, apparently.
Di Lewis
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 5:56 pm:
Oh. And for those keeping stats on this particular post, I consider myself independent. Although most in Utah would call me a democrat.
Jim W
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 6:18 pm:
11/12 (guessed low on Afghanistan troop levels). Agreed, even a minimal investment in current events should make this a very easy test.
Michael Trujillo
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 7:42 pm:
Douglas, Douglas, Douglas,
Let’s look at this survey from different angles.
First, more than 50% of ALL respondents answered incorrectly on 7 of the 12 questions. And that’s with multiple choice answers! The easiest type of test to take. And one question barely made it over 50% as well. So, 8 out of 12 questions had an appalling correct response rate. That’s the big story here.
Secondly, if the 1,002 respondents were equally divided as Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, then the differences in percentages is cut and dry. If there were 334 Reps, 334 Dems, and 334 Inds, then 90 Reps knew what Cap & Trade is, and 50 Dems knew what Cap & Trade is (nearly double as many). And 281 Reps knew who holds the House majority, while 240 Dems knew who holds the majority.
BUT … the respondents were, more than likely, not divided so evenly. How many self identified as Republican and how many as Democrat? The only way I could get any kind of rough idea was figures I found that said there were 55 million registered Republicans in 2004, 72 million Democrats, and 42 million Independents. Using that ratio as a base for the current numbers of Republican and Democrats, and assuming that the poll attained a truly representative survey, then there were 326 Republican respondents, 427 Democrat respondents, and 249 Independents.
With those numbers, you get 88 Republicans who knew what Cap & Trade is, and 64 Democrats who know the same thing. You also get 274 Republicans who knew the House Majority, and 316 Dems who new the same thing. That means MORE Dems are knowledgeable on this issue, just not as high a percentage.
If we propose that the number of people claiming to be Republican has decreased and the number of people claiming to be Independents has increased, then the number differences between the Republicans and Democrats gets smaller. Do the math yourself, just take 75 or 100 away from the Republican total above, and add it to the Independent number above.
But, before we argue what the percentages mean, we have to go back to who and where the Pew Institute took their poll? Even a “random” phone survey has a mathematical probability of polling a disproportional number of one Party or another. Several surveys need to be conducted before anyone should get too excited about proof that Republicans “know” more than others.
Thirdly, on a personal note, I missed the question about the Dow and I have no qualms about it. I pay zero attention to the Dow. The Dow is the biggest scam ever designed by man.
Lastly, you kind of zeroed in on the Republican/Democrat differences. May I point out that my group, the Independents, scored greater than 50% on half of the questions, while Republicans scored over 50% on only 5 of the 12 questions? If I were someone who put a lot of stock in this type of poll, I might feel entitled to brag a little.
My point is, again, that you need to be very careful before you draw conclusions from polls and surveys. Thanks for pointing us toward this one. At the very least, it helps validate the fact that most Americans are woefully obtuse.
Jim W
on Nov 2nd, 2009
@ 9:51 pm:
Michael: methinks thou dost protest too much.
Steve Stones
on Nov 3rd, 2009
@ 9:56 am:
If the Republicans are so smart political wise, how come they lost big time in the last election cycle one year ago? If they have a monopoly on morality and moral concepts, as they often claim they do (like most religious fanatics), how come the voters didn’t buy into their “moral superiority?” In this regard, it is obvious they are not too smart, and the voters are smart enough not to buy into this hogwash of moral superiority.
Michael Trujillo
on Nov 3rd, 2009
@ 12:58 pm:
Jim, I’m not protesting. I have a long standing issue with Doug’s reliance on polls and surveys to validate his opinions. I personally believe that there are intelligent people in both of the major parties. It cracks me up when anyone, in either party, crows “All the smart people are with us”.
ctrentelman
on Nov 4th, 2009
@ 9:11 am:
if republicans are so smart how come they can’t run a country with a balanced budget?
answer: Because they spend too much time studying politics, which is theory and fantasy, and not enough on how to run a country, which is practical and real — Voodoo economics is just one example.
laytonian
on Nov 5th, 2009
@ 5:16 pm:
Self-selecting poll, huh?
NBohr
on Nov 6th, 2009
@ 1:31 am:
Yeah, and the Pew also shows that only 6% of scientists are republican, ’nuff said.
Stanley
on Nov 7th, 2009
@ 10:32 am:
I went 12 for 12 … and I’m Canadian and can’t even vote. How does that make you feel? I feel sorry for this country when I see the results. But it speaks volumes that Republicans are gloating and happy to have “beaten” the Democrats (ignoring the fact that independents win outright) rather than being mortified that so many people are so ignorant on so many important issues in this country, regardless of politics. Don’t you people have civics classes anymore? I bet 100% of the population could identify who won last year’s American Idol contest though. Nice work America! I just don’t get it. America can do so much better than this. What is happening in this country?
Shelley Worthen
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 1:37 pm:
The quiz doesn’t even ask what political party you belong to. How could you measure which party scores higher? I’m a Democrat and scored 11/12.
Amy Wicks
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 2:50 pm:
I’m an age 30-49 female Democrat and I scored 12 out of 12, along with 2% of the people taking the quiz. I listen to lots of NPR.