Do politicians respond better to evidence that challenges their views? This study tests the 'affective tipping point' theory using randomized survey experiments with 954 Danish politicians. By analyzing responses compared to those of citizens, we explore how prior attitudes affect information processing.
Experimental Design: Survey-based experiment comparing responses from politicians and citizens in Denmark.
Key Hypothesis: Politicians base decisions on their pre-existing beliefs rather than objective evidence.
Our findings confirm that most politicians rely heavily on prior attitudes when evaluating new data. Contrary to expectations, exposure to more information actually reinforced these biases, showing that quantity does not overcome political conviction.
| The Role of Evidence in Politics: Motivated Reasoning and Persuasion Among Politicians was authored by Martin Baekgaard, Julian Christensen, Casper Mondrup Dahlmann, Asbjørn Mathiasen and Niels Bjørn Grund Petersen. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2019. |
