The Polarization of Reality

Alberto Alesina, Armando Miano and Stefanie Stantcheva

No 26675, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: D71 D72 H41 J15 P16 P35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mic, nep-ore and nep-pol
Note: PE POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (44)

Published as Alberto Alesina & Armando Miano & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2020. "The Polarization of Reality," AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol 110, pages 324-328.

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Journal Article: The Polarization of Reality (2020)
Working Paper: The Polarization of Reality (2020)
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