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Political knowledge today is studied primarily at the explicit level. Measures of political knowledge often rely on testing whether voters are aware of various "facts" about political life, such as the names and offices of prominent political actors, the institutional structures of the political system, and the ideological or policy differences between the major political parties (e.g., Delli Carpini and Keeter 1996). These various kinds of political information are considered to be important by political scientists and other social scientists because they facilitate the informed voting decisions that are needed to hold elected leaders accountable (e.g., Lau and Redlawsk 2006; Pande 2011).

Using Polish panel data from 1998, 2003, and 2008, I examine people's knowledge of the governing parties of the Sejm in 2003. I focus on ability, opportunity, and motivation to explain political knowledge. I also examine the effects of knowledge on changes in political attitudes and behaviors from 2003 to 2008. Major sources of political knowledge are prior political interest and the change in interest from 1998 to 2003, political experience, and cognitive ability. There also exists a substantial gender gap in knowledge. Finally, political knowledge leads to changes in political interest, alienation, democratic attitudes, and voting behavior.

Title from caption. ; Mode of access: Internet. ; From Sept. 1834 to Aug. 1836 published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Political Knowledge.

Since the language of political inquiry seems to be inescapably metaphorical, the question necessarily arises as to how metaphors of various types, including models, enter into the composition and expression of political knowledge. The solutions that have been most influential in contemporary political science can be called the verificationist and constitutivist views of political metaphor. While both views contain important elements of truth, there are fundamental difficulties in each that require the search for a more satisfactory view. An alternative view of metaphor and political knowledge is developed by reference to four main problems: Why is political speech metaphorical? How do metaphors make political things manifest? How are political metaphors tested? and Are metaphors indispensable to political expression and political knowledge?

AbstractSurvey research shows that voters know very little about politics. Left unexamined is whether political knowledge is a distinct type of knowledge when compared to other subjects. We seek to establish a baseline by putting political knowledge into a broader context. We show that our respondents' knowledge about politics is similar in construction to their knowledge about other subjects, such as shopping, sports, popular culture, geography, economics, and the rules of the road. We conclude that knowledge of politics largely resides on the same dimension as other knowledge topics, implying that knowledge of politics is not a unique construct.

This article assesses the impact of political knowledge on electoral choice during the 2001 British election. It explores the impact of knowledge of what party platforms say about taxation, privatization, & Europe on the relationships between respondents' positions on these issues & their voting behavior. The results show that knowledge does in fact affect how people vote. This was especially evident for all issues in the contrast between voting for the Conservatives & voting for the Liberal Democrats. On the other hand, knowledge about party positions on taxation & privatization had little effect on the contrast between voting Labour & voting Liberal Democrat. However, knowledge of party positions on Europe, an issue about which voters would have difficulty finding effective shortcuts, did have a significant impact on all vote choices. A practical political implication of these findings is that the Liberal Democrats seem to benefit when voters are knowledgeable, suggesting that their performance at the polls could be improved with greater exposure. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.