Best Of: Why do some keep their political beliefs hidden?
Emily Van Duyn is an assistant professor of communication at the University of Illinois and author of the book "Democracy Lives in Darkness."
Editor's Note: This segment originally aired in March 2023.
Many of us have an idea of democracy that includes a free exchange of views. We know we can’t always convince someone that this idea or that is superior to their way of thinking, but we'll still be free to express our own opinions. There are a lot of people who don’t feel that way, however. In their slice of America, they are not free to say whatever they want about politics. Yet, while the blue-city Republican and the red-state Democrat might feel isolated, they are not alone.
We were joined by a University of Illinois professor who studied one such group of political outliers to talk about what she found.
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Emily Van Duyn
Author, “Democracy Lives in Darkness: How and Why People Keep Their Politics a Secret” | Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi.
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