One Nation, Two Realities

Dueling Facts in American Democracy

Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

The most comprehensive treatment of this subject on the market -- tackling the causes and consequences of dueling fact perceptions, and potential correctives to them, all in one place
Uses a variety of methodological approaches to produce findings that are compelling and generalizable
Reaches a number of enlightening and provocative conclusions: dueling fact perceptions are not so much a product of hyper-partisanship or media propaganda as they are of simple value differences and deepening distrust of authorities
Deploys evidence to argue that fact-checking doesn't help to bring people with different beliefs together

One Nation, Two Realities

Dueling Facts in American Democracy

Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

Description

The deep divides that define politics in the United States are not restricted to policy or even cultural differences anymore. Americans no longer agree on basic questions of fact. Is climate change real? Does racism still determine who gets ahead? Is sexual orientation innate? Do immigration and free trade help or hurt the economy? Does gun control reduce violence? Are false convictions common?

Employing several years of original survey data and experiments, Marietta and Barker reach a number of enlightening and provocative conclusions: dueling fact perceptions are not so much a product of hyper-partisanship or media propaganda as they are of simple value differences and deepening distrust of authorities. These duels foster social contempt, even in the workplace, and they warp the electorate. The educated -- on both the right and the left -- carry the biggest guns and are the quickest to draw. And finally, fact-checking and other proposed remedies don't seem to holster too many weapons; they can even add bullets to the chamber. Marietta and Barker's pessimistic conclusions will challenge idealistic reformers.

One Nation, Two Realities

Dueling Facts in American Democracy

Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

Preface

1. Introduction: Truth & Trust

Part I Concepts

2. What Smarter People Have Said About Facts: Philosophical & Psychological Foundations

3. Dueling Facts in Political Science

4. Dueling Facts in American Politics

Part II Causes

5. Your Facts or Mine? The Psychology of Fact Perceptions

6. The Psychology of Fact Perceptions II: Value Projection

7. Polarized Leaders Versus Polarized Values

8. A Theory of Intuitive Epistemology

9. The Roots of Certainty: Sacred Values and Sacred Facts

Part III Consequences

10. The Democratic Consequences of Dueling Facts

11. Disdain & Disengagement: The Social Consequences of Dueling Fact Perceptions

Part IV Correctives

12. Political Knowledge and Fractured Perceptions: Education is Not the Answer

13. Let Facts Be Submitted to a Candid World: Fact-Checking as a Potential Solution

14. Citizen Reponses to Fact-Checking

15. Symmetry, Asymmetry, and Durability

Part V Conclusion

16. Conclusion: Facts & Values, Knowledge & Democracy

References
Appendix

One Nation, Two Realities

Dueling Facts in American Democracy

Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

Author Information

Morgan Marietta is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he studies the psychology of politics and writes about the political consequences of belief. He is the author of three previous books, The Politics of Sacred Rhetoric: Absolutist Appeals and Political Influence (Baylor University Press, 2012), A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology: Conservatism and Liberalism in Contemporary Politics (Routledge, 2011), and A Citizen's Guide to the Constitution and the Supreme Court: Constitutional Conflict in American Politics (Routledge, 2014).

David C. Barker is Professor of Government (American Politics) and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. Previously, he was Director of the Institute for Social Research and CALSPEAKS Opinion Research at California State University, Sacramento (2012-2017), and Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Pittsburgh. He has served as principal investigator on more than 60 externally funded research projects, and he has published dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles in outlets such as the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, and many others. His previous books include Rushed to Judgment: Talk Radio, Persuasion, and American Political Behavior (Columbia University Press, 2002) and Representing Red and Blue: How the Culture Wars Change the Way Citizens Speak and Politicians Listen (Oxford University Press, 2012).

One Nation, Two Realities

Dueling Facts in American Democracy

Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

Reviews and Awards

"Academics, among others, reacted with incredulity and scorn when a close associate of President Trump proposed 'alternative facts' to explain varying interpretations of an apparently simple phenomenon. But Marietta and Barker show elegantly and persuasively that such a reaction was itself mistaken. Americans, and perhaps residents of other countries, live in a realm of deep divisions about objective reality. Problems go beyond misinformation and deeper than ignorance; solutions are scarce; threats to democratic governance are severe. One Nation, Two Realities is a powerful, empirically-based, thoughtful analysis that all people who care about their nation should ponder." -- Jennifer L. Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government, Harvard University and author of Do Facts Matter?: Information and Misinformation in American Politics

"This is a superb piece of scholarship that blends politics, philosophy, and psychology. Barker and Marietta compellingly document how deep political polarization now runs in America. Importantly, they do not flinch from acknowledging how difficult it will be to bridge competing ideological visions of reality." -- Philip E. Tetlock, Annenberg University Professor, University of Pennsylvania

"This is an important academic book about how the incendiary debate regarding fact and truth has distorted and inflamed American politics today. First, calling the problem one of Dueling Fact Perceptions captures it better than any term used to date, as the authors get to it by way of an excellent review of the historical debate, as well as current political science and public opinion research on the causes and consequences of partisan polarization. Second, it shows that this problem is not just related to the ideological and other conflicts among party leaders, with or without President Donald Trump, but also to the clash of values that the public holds and psychological processes such as motivated reasoning.

Third, it demonstrates that knowledge, education, and the unequivocal disclosure of falsehoods through fact-checking have become disconnected from democracy and are unable to diminish these severe perceptional biases. It leaves a sense of pessimism related to the lack of trust of leaders and institutions that provide the public with information. The authors do not say it, but what is needed is a new generation of leaders who can restore the trust that will reconnect knowledge, education, and facts to democratic processes." -- Robert Y. Shapiro, Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

"This rich and fascinating work examines the increasing prevalence of dueling fact perceptions among the American public. Couched in a wide-ranging discussion of epistemology, journalism, and social science, One Nation, Two Realities presents vital and sobering insights about the quality of American democracy." -- Choice