Preview

Public Opinion

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1381 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Public Opinion
In today's society, public opinion polls are used to defend and argue against almost every imaginable issue. They are used to determine who is the leading candidate in elections, if the people support those they do elect, if movies, television and other media products are any good, or at least desirable and they determine what kind of products we as consumers want to purchase, also to determine the presidential approval rating. The only problem with these polls is that they don't always express the public's true opinion. That is one of the many argument that Carl Cannon makes. Today more than ever the government has been relying on polls taken by the people to run the country. In Carl M. Cannon's article called Hooked on Polls, he writes about the concerns he has for today's government and how it runs. He believes that public opinion polls are dominating issues for our country. Which means that the government is relying on public opinion polls way too much. The number of polls used by politicians is very high, which are used to run our government, and the effects from it can be very negative.

The government that we have right now is a representative democracy where elected officials govern the people and the people do not directly vote on the issues. The elected officials decide and vote on issues and will hopefully represent the people in which he or she was elected to represent. By having the people vote on every single topic, our government would be a direct democracy. This is exactly what the Framers of the Constitution did not want. They believed that the public was not smart enough to vote on every issue. The problem that arises from this is that the people are not educated enough to take on the responsibility. The people cannot and should not vote on issues such as foreign policy, where the people may not know enough knowledge about the issue to make a good and educated decision on it. The reason our government is set up the way it is, is because that our

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Gallup Poll is one of the most recognized and revered polls used to interpret public opinion. It is used to guage public opinion on various political, social and economic issues as well as other controversial topics. The Gallup Poll is often found to be accurate in its polling of events such as elections, which is why it is considered the definitive poll by most organizations.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is generally understood that the United States is built upon the principles of democracy, in which the majority consensus of the citizens helps to define the shape of issues or elections. However, in assuming that the Constitution - the document upon which such practices are founded – is inherently democratic is only partially accurate. Indeed, it has been frequently argued that the U. S. Constitution is representative of the rule of law from a federation as opposed to a pure democracy; in a federation, elections occur among the majority of the citizenry but this process results in elected officials who then determine the direction of the country. In short, a federation transforms a democracy from the rule of the many back into the rule of the few, with the “few” in this sense being the elected officials selected through an elections process.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Our government is a representative rather than direct democracy. Moreover it is much more responsive to the rich than he poor.…

    • 3000 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States, in its policies, indicates that it is a democracy. In my comprehension of the whole structure, I perceive that it is a republic in which the people choose representatives who decide on their own on policies and furthermore. I believe that the people of the United States would prefer and benefit more from a democratic system. A democratic system would still mean having representatives but they would be “from the people to the people”. They would be fully representing the people by having meetings and gatherings with them to know what they need, want, and to be informed with their input on current issues, because after all it is they who the representatives are representing. These groups would of course be…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Opinion polls and other sample surveys can produce accurate and useful information if the pollster uses good statistical techniques and also works hard at preparing a sampling frame, wording questions, and reducing nonresponse. Many surveys, however, especially those designed to influence public opinion rather than just record it, do not produce accurate or useful information. Here are some questions to ask before you pay much attention to poll results.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ancient Greek and Roman governments were pretty much the very first example of a Democratic government leading our government to become what it is now in the United States. Document A, which was part of a speech given by the Roman general Scipio in which he spoke about the system of the Roman government, he talked about how the constitution that Romans had was not created by an individuals. It also talks about the nobles who acted as representatives of the people and how their choices were not made without the consent of the citizens. This is like our modern government because our constitution was made by a group officials and not just one person, so there were many views, just like the Romans had. Our governments are also run by the representatives who listen to and support the ideas that the citizens have. Today we also have some of the same rights and opinions that the governments had then. Document B, which is a quote from an ancient Greek statesman, Pericles, tells what place the people had to him in the Greek Government when he said, “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.” What he is trying to say is that it is the job of the citizens to be involved in the government, or they don’t have the right to complain about what the government does. Today, everybody is expected to take part in the politics of our government, even if it is doing something that is as simple as taking the time to vote in the…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congress Dbq

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When citizens become faithless in the core principles of democracy, than that democracy will fail. The congress people have no role in enforcing their specific leaning on their thousands of constituents[Doc B]. It might be the case that legislators become overconfident in their abilities to be a free agent in terms of legislating. When legislators lose focus of the purpose of democracy, than America become more of an oligarch than it does a democracy. As JFK said, “[saying] f the people... would deny the obligation of a representative to be bound by every impulse of the electorate”[Doc A]. This is especially true in context in the context of a democracy. It becomes infinitely regressive for an elected official to disagree with the conclusion their constituents fall upon. This denies the autonomy of a whole population of concerned citizens to participate in the governmental system. The governmental system become corrupts when elected officials become the center of the political system. They say why not this change, then why agree with any other decision that the electorate has. This creates a dangerous system that would not be possible if the congress people were more directly tied to the decisions of the people who elected…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wireshark

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Setting up a new government system for Anation is a difficult and slow task. Anotion should be a democratic nation. Since democracy is a nation is which every citizen has an equal say Anation should feel like this governmental system is what works best for them. Federalism would be utilized in this nation. By following the principles of common federalism power would be distributed at regional, national and supranational levels. By setting up a democratic government Anation can make choices that the citizens have a say in. The fact of the matter is that you cannot make everyone happy with any decision that is made. It is just not possible. So by have a democracy and electing officials and voting it gives the fairness or at least the illusion of fairness. I think that for Anation which is a country with several different religious factions this is a system that would work the best.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Upon the founding of America, a great deal of pressure was placed onto the Founding Fathers to create a system in which the central government will not acquire too much power and the citizens will be well represented. A representative democracy was, overall, a more effective answer to the question of how to govern the new country rather than a direct democracy after seeing the effects that the Articles of Confederation created when too much of the power of the government was given to the people and their states. A stronger central government was needed without taking away the voice of the people, and that’s what was decided on. However, even though this way has proven to be the most effective way to govern a country, it has its flaws within the system. Corruption finds its way through the system in ways of interest groups and political parties. This system is not immune to factions nor the effect of those factions, and those effects often make their way to important matters within the government.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To be a true democracy, the people should have the power to elect who they want as their officials. The problem is though, we are not a true democracy; we are a compromised, partial democracy. This is why the voting system should adhere to the desires of our citizens.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Synthesis Argument

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Government is defined by the Webster Dictionary as "the system by which a state or community is governed." In America that system is democracy. It is a system which allows for personal freedom and the ability for one individual to make a difference. Democracy will by definition always follow the will of the majority. John Adams declares that "the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best." Democracy ensures that by giving people the chance to have their say in the public arena. They participate intimately in politics but give elected leaders to stand in for them on the day to day details.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    America is a Democratic-Republic, not a Democracy. If we had a true Democracy, we the people would vote on every issue. Issues such as every law and every bill. Instead we have a group of people called leaders, who represent America and make those decisions. Then we the people just should abide by those laws and bills that we had no say in.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Public Opinion Analysis

    • 2973 Words
    • 12 Pages

    In Public Opinion: Democratic Ideals, Democratic Practice, Rosalee Clawson and Zoe Oxley interpret public opinion as an individual’s beliefs and preferences in regards to all governmental matters and policies.(424) These individual ideas collectively are viewed as the overall populations opinions summarized and can be reflected by a poll. By collecting these opinions through the polling process, lawmakers are likely to take these opinions into consideration when creating and/or regulating a policy.…

    • 2973 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Voter Stereotypes

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If this is a political poll, the poll could be swayed by the political preferences of the pollsters. The pollster could easily sway the poll in any direction by selecting the sample size, the specifics related to the sample demographic, or the way that the sample is polled. For example, by considering the sample taken as the “likely voter” or the “registered voter,” the poll could be skewed in different directions. According to Panagopoulos and Farrer (2014), the number of likely voters tended to prefer the GOP candidate and the number of registered voters tended to be pro-Democratic. The poll could also be swayed by outside factors related to the political process. One of the factors related to the polictical process that could introduce bias is illustrated by Tull in his 1975 article. Tull (1975) illustrates that, when attempting to determine a campaign run by a candidate, the polls provided are, by design, biased intentionally in order to support the candidate’s ambitions to run for public office.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Opinions and Social Pressure,” social psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a study to discover the influences a majority may have on individuals.…

    • 610 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics