Working Paper: NBER ID: w26675
Authors: Alberto F. Alesina; Armando Miano; Stefanie Stantcheva
Abstract: Americans are polarized not only in their views on policy issues and attitudes towards 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.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: D71; D72; H41; J15; P16; P35
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Political affiliation (D72) | Perceptions of economic indicators (E66) |
| Perceptions of economic indicators (E66) | Policy preferences (D72) |
| Political affiliation (D72) | Support for redistribution policies (H23) |
| Pessimistic perceptions of social mobility (J62) | Support for redistribution policies (H23) |
| Political affiliation (D72) | Perceptions about immigration and income inequality (K37) |
| Information exposure (D80) | Perceptions (D84) |
| Perceptions (D84) | Policy views (D78) |
| Selective learning (C92) | Reception of information (D83) |