The Invented State: Policy Misperceptions in the American Public

Summary

In The Invented State, Emily Thorson argues that a problematic and understudied aspect of political misinformation reflects widespread public misperception about what the government does. Because much of public policy is invisible to the public, there is fertile ground for false beliefs to flourish, leading to what Thorson terms the "invented state": systematic misperceptions about public policy. However, people get the facts wrong not because they are stupid or blinded by partisan loyalty. Misperceptions are created when three conditions are met: when citizens have incomplete information about an issue, when their own biases color their understanding of it, and when they feel that the issue is important. The invented state is created by exposure to misinformation and by individuals' cognitive errors.

Correcting these policy misperceptions is highly effective at reducing false beliefs. Providing people with corrective information has downstream effects on attitudes. When they learn how policies really work, their approval increases and they also shift their policy priorities. Contrary to pundits' assumptions of a public who is largely indifferent to policy, there is a deep public desire to learn basic facts about how the government works. Thorson meets that desire with analysis on how the media can identify and correct substantive policy misperceptions.