Rethinking traditional measures of political knowledge reveals their limitations when focusing solely on liberal-democratic perspectives.📏 The study introduces carceral violence knowledge—a distinct domain crucial for understanding marginalized communities' realities. By including this dimension, we find that black youth possess significant expertise about state-sanctioned violence—an area where white youth often lag.

Key findings show a reversal of standard patterns: Whites lead in traditional political knowledge but trail behind Blacks regarding carceral knowledge domains.📡 The research employs novel methods via a nationally representative survey (N=2,000) demonstrating that these two knowledge batteries operate differently in the US context.

Black youth's expertise with incarceration systems carries important implications for their political engagement. This specialized understanding appears to depress participation levels among African Americans,📡 while correlating differently than general political knowledge across racial groups.