Who does not know the political debates, which paint the opponent as more ignorant? In other words, where are the "smarter" voters in terms of relevant knowledge - on the left, right or center? A huge study, published in Nature magazine, sought to shed light on the relationship between political literacy and political attitudes.
The study, which was conducted in 45 countries on six continents and is practically unprecedented in its scope, tested the popular notion that people who are on the ideological extremes will show more political knowledge.
Studies conducted so far have also supported the hypothesis.
However, they were few and far between and most were held in the US.
A Turkish citizen votes in Istanbul, 2018, photo: GettyImages
The researchers from the Ramón Yul University in Barcelona and the University of Auckland in New Zealand discovered very diverse patterns.
Thus, for example, in seven out of 45 countries (including Turkey, South Korea and Serbia), no relationship was found between political orientation and literacy.
In one country (Austria) the highest literacy was among those who identified themselves as centrists.
However, the most common pattern - 15 out of 45 countries including Israel - was the one in which the highest literacy in politics was among those who defined themselves center-right and center-left.
Their proficiency was higher than both centrists and extreme right and leftists.
The signs of the various parties at the polling stations in Ashdod, 2022, photo: Liron Moldovan
This is actually Norway
And who are we like, you ask?
This is the list: Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA. The opposite pattern - particularly high literacy in the political center and on the edges - was found only in Mozambique.
Elections in Norway, 2017, photo: GettyImages
The researchers wrote that understanding the citizens' orientation to the facts concerning the political life in the country is important for both scientists and politicians and policy makers - and for good reason.
"Political literacy is critical to the formation of political attitudes and the acceptance of democratic values, and at the same time allows citizens to identify positions that best suit their values and characteristics," they explained.
"We hope that more researchers will use the findings as a starting point for the investigation of additional factors that influence the relationship between political literacy and the political inclination within and between nations"
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