Theory, Media, and Democracy for Realists

Democracy for Realists delivers a long-overdue attack upon apologetics for American political realities. Achen and Bartels argue that the “folk theory of democracy” is not an accurate description of democracy in the United States and
that without a greater degree of economic and social equality, democracy will remain an unattainable ideal. But their account of the gap between ideal and actual relies too heavily on the innate cognitive limitations and biases (particularly intergroup bias) of our psychology. These are important, but they provide only an incomplete understanding if we do not incorporate a focus on information and ideas. Media effects research and comparative media studies provide evidence that the ignorance
of the U.S. voter is only partly caused by cognitive limitations, and they point the way to a more effective way to bring social psychology into political science.