Politics

People who overestimate their political knowledge are more likely to believe conspiracy theories

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People who overestimate their political knowledge are more likely to believe conspiracy theories

β€œWe find that inflated confidence in one’s understanding of politics and public policy is associated with the tendency to believe in political conspiracies,” Vitriol told PsyPost. β€œThat is, people who overestimate how well they understand political phenomena are more likely to believe that hidden actors or clandestine groups are conspiring in wide-ranging activities to influence important world actions, events, and outcomes.”

β€œIn general, people tend to overestimate how much they understand about the causal workings of the world around them. Understanding of politics is no exception. Open-mindedness, humility, and exposing oneself to many perspectives and sources of information is necessary to be an informed and ethical citizen.”

Those who overestimated their knowledge were more likely to believe conspiracies like the U.S. government intentionally created AIDS or that Princess Diana’s death was not an accident but rather an assassination.

The DOJ ruled 44 years ago that the president cannot pardon himself

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The DOJ ruled 44 years ago that the president cannot pardon himself

"However, as Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis pointed out, that wasn't the case at the end of former President Richard Nixon's time in office. "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself," the Department of Justice declared in 1974. The DOJ spelled it out just four days before Nixon resigned, explaining that the president's pardoning power "does not extend to the president himself."