LAUSR

ABSTRACT Recently, considerable theoretical literature has emerged on voters’ sophistication and its effect on democratic functioning. Some works argue that the political choices of more sophisticated voters lead to more favourable social outcomes (Brennan, 2017. Against democracy. Princeton University Press; Somin, 2016. Democracy and political ignorance: Why smaller government is smarter. Stanford University Press). However, Achen and Bartels (2016. Democracy for realists: Why elections do not produce Responsive government. Princeton University Press) argue that sophisticated citizens are at least as biased as the unsophisticated. This paper aims to clarify this link by investigating the role of education, information acquisition, and interest on bias. The question is tested on European Social Survey data. The results show that the level of bias is independent of education but is significantly related to both interest and newspaper reading. The findings fully support the interpretation of Achen and Bartels (2016. Democracy for Realists: Why elections do not produce responsive government. Princeton University Press) on the effect of sophistication.