Are Think Tankers Better Than Ordinary Americans?

New research from Jennifer Bachner and Benjamin Ginsberg at Johns Hopkins University has set out to compare Washington "policymakers," including think tankers, and "ordinary" Americans.  Here is more about the findings from The Washington Post:

Bachner and Ginsberg found that compared to the average American, the group [which includes think tankers, consultants, lobbyists, and federal employees] "Is more educated. Their salaries are higher, they vote more and have more faith in the fairness of elections. They are probably Democrat and liberal." This in itself is not necessarily surprising - DC is a large metropolitan area, and as a rule the nation's metros tend to be wealthier, better-educated and more liberal than the rest of the country.

But these policymakers also pay more attention to politics, they're more likely to vote, and they have considerably more confidence in the fairness of the political process...

More about the study can be read here.