Lack of trust in institutions may be more important than religion in driving poor political knowledge among American voters

Many commentators are concerned about the apparent lack of political knowledge and civic awareness among American voters. Ben Gaskins looks at some of the drivers of civic awareness, including the influence of religious identity, beliefs, and institutions. He writes that political knowledge is not just about exposure to facts but also people’s willingness to trust their sources. Highly religious Americans, he finds, are generally not any less politically aware than the non-religious, but they are more likely to reject certain types of facts from secular sources because of their distrust for mainstream media outlets.