8 September 2018 Currents
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Sean Illing : So we know that people who are aware and appreciative of government ’ s role in their lives through social benefits are least likely to participate in politics , and those who use social benefits but show no cognizance of government ’ s role in providing them are much more likely to vote . What accounts for this ? Suzanne Mettler : The people who participate the most in politics , usually people with more education and more resources , rely on plenty of social benefits from government , but these benefits are often hidden in the tax code or are disguised in other ways , they don ’ t think of government as having done much for them personally .
Suzanne Mettler : As a political scientist , I would have thought that people ’ s personal experiences might interfere . If the government helped you afford college or health care or prevented your grandmother from falling into poverty when she was a citizen , you would think that would overcome the messages people are getting from the special interests .
But I ’ ve found that those personal experiences don ’ t matter much , unless somebody is connecting the dots ,
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