Good piece by Daniel Finkelstein. Hand-wringing about political ignorance is usually just a form of snobbery:
Politicians and pundits share the idea that people are constantly re-evaluating their position. But not at all. At a few big moments they might pause and think again; the rest of the time they let events float by, or at best reinterpret them to fit with their existing views...But out of all this, surprisingly, something heartening emerges...Because people don’t know, aren’t following and don’t believe politicians and their promises, they can only judge them on one thing. Whether what politicians do works.
Political ignorance isn’t stupidity, it’s economical use of time.
