The Willingness to State an Opinion: Inequality, Don't Know Responses, and Political Participation

What is it about?

Poorer and less-educated are less likely to participate in electoral politics than people with more resources; the standard explanation for this is that resources themselves--such as education and income--facilitate greater participation. I show that even in a setting where resources shouldn't matter directly (saying "don't know" to political questions on surveys) that income still matters for participation. I argue that this is because part of poorer people's disconnect from politics is based on having the sense that they lack "political competence" or are not the type of people who are expected to participate.

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