Using data from the 1964, 1968, and 1972 American national election studies, this report raises serious questions about the validity of the “salience-of-politics” hypothesis that has been invoked to account for the dramatic growth of mass ideological consistency since the late 1950s. A reconceptualization of the consistency construct along liberal-conservative lines and a more refined analysis of the effect of education suggests that the rising level of educational attainment in the mass public may be the major factor explaining long-term trends in the structure of American political ideology.