Are You a Public Opinion Pro?

Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives on Public Opinion and Democracy

• The post-modern meaning of public opinion (PO) has two aspects: peer pressure to slow down citizen involvement and governments' resources to control and manipulate PO.
• Democracies prioritize being responsive to PO over non-democratic governments.
• Theory refers to generalizations that explain, inform research, and predict or influence future events.
• Democratic peace theory suggests that democratic nations are less likely to go to war with each other.
• Democracy can be direct or indirect, with James Madison arguing that pure democracies lead to conflict-ridden states.
• Normative theories range from minimalist, where citizens can replace rulers through elections, to maximalist, where citizens govern themselves.
• Citizens' democratic competence refers to their ability to meet the requirements of democratic models.
• Policymaking is expected to be at least somewhat responsive to PO due to periodic elections and voters choosing leaders who share their values and opinions.
• Policymakers learn about PO through public opinion research and interest groups representing disparate viewpoints.
• Elite theory and Marxism suggest that policymaking is dominated by powerful elites or business interests.
• The elements of democratic competence include good heart, reasoning mind, and balanced judgment, but assessing qualification is subjective.
• Essential conditions for public opinion in democracies include freedom of communication, time for deliberation, and nonpartisan administrative procedures.