Politics: Survey Says: Republicans Know More than Democrats

... out of the 12 multiple-choice questions asked in a Pew Research Center phone survey of more than 1,000 adults, Republicans answered an average of about 6 questions correctly compared with 5 for Democrats.

These political-party differences are partly a reflection of the demographics, with Republicans tending to be older, well-educated and male – all factors associated with political and economic knowledge. Even after accounting for these factors, however, Pew scientists found a gap.

Men correctly answered an average of six questions correctly, while women answered an average of 4.6 questions right. Those with college degrees correctly answered about seven questions correctly on average.

And as in the past, older Americans generally did better than young people. Respondents age 50 and older answered about 6 questions correctly on average, compared with just under 4 for those under 50.

See Survey Says: Republicans Know More than Democrats by Livescience Staff, January 29, 2010.