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Palgrave Macmillan

Polling, Policy, and Public Opinion

The Case Against Heeding the "Voice of the People"

  • Book
  • © 2002

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Authors:
  1. Robert Weissberg
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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Public Opinion, Polling, and Politics

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 1-16

  3. From Wishes to Hard Choices

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 17-48

  4. Civic Competence

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 49-70

  5. Public Opinion I: Policies and Questions

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 71-93

  6. Public Opinion II: Fervent Desires

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 95-138

  7. Bestowing the Democratic Mantle

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 139-173

  8. Conclusions

    • Robert Weissberg
    Pages 175-193

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 195-232
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Keywords

About this book

The opinion poll has become commonplace in politics and typically reveals public desires for greater government social welfare assistance, such as more aid for education or health care. These statistics seem to proclaim the welfare state's enduring popularity. Though sincere, these desires largely reflect how questions are asked. Unfortunately, polls usually lack basic economic restraints. There are no costs, risks or disasters in the world of polling. Market-based solutions are routinely excluded. This book works to reveal these shortcomings and clearly demonstrates why a government ruled by the vox populi would be folly.

Reviews

'Excellent, stimulating this book will help Americans understand what they already suspect but cannot fully articulate.' - Benjamin Ginsberg, Johns Hopkins University

'Weisberg argues that the obsession that today's public officials display for polls is not a celebration of direct democracy...' - Washington Post

About the author

ROBERT WEISSBERG is Professor of Political Science at University of Illinois-Urbana. He is author of Democracy and the Academy (2000) and has written for Forbes, The Weekly Standard, and the major political science journals.

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