Public Officials and Public Opinion Polls - Assignment Example

Public Officials and Public Opinion Polls Executive Summary Data that is culled from the public opinion polls are used by a number of groups in the United States for a variety of reasons. During the political campaigns it is seen that the candidates use opinion polls in order to judge their images and the stances they take are viewed by the public of America. Considering public opinion is important for the public officials for understanding the opinions and choice of the public. This assignment will highlight many arguments in favor of public opinion polls and arguments against public opinion polls. Body of the Paper Arguments for the motion Public opinions play a major role in developing policy decision. Policies are formed in a state for benefiting the citizens in various ways. For this reason consents of people are important for selecting and developing appropriate policies for a state. In most of the country the government is selected by the people. The citizen expects that the government will work for developing the country and facilitating the lives of people. The government needs to consider the opinion of the citizen while taking any major decision. By this process the government will be able to understand the expectation of the people for the state and the things which create strong impacts on them (Burstein, 2003). Generally policies are formed for improving the condition of the country. People of the state face different types of situations and circumstances for living in their live in the state. They are the most appropriate people who can recommend the best policy for the country. With the help of public polls the government is able to understand the wants of the people and according to that they it can form effective policies for the state. Polls are the most powerful and effective tool in getting information and feedback from the people. Public opinion polls indicate the number of people interested in taking part in politics and decision process of the state. The opinions of maximum and minimum number of people can be analyzed with the help of public opinion polls. When a government takes policy decision according to the majority opinions the citizens then the people tend to support the government. Public opinion polls are used by the public officials for giving importance to the people. With the help of public opinion polls a government can show it’s concerned towards people opinion. People participate directly in the decision making process of the government in direct democracy. Public opinion polls facilitate the government in communicating directly or indirectly with the citizen. In many countries people elect their representatives in the government for making the rules and regulations of the government more effective. The public opinion polls also helps the people to understand their positioned in the state. In many cases it has been perceived that public opinions help to develop effective government policies. If government do not consider the opinions of the public then policies cannot be accepted by the people and it will result in ineffective government (Carpini, Cook & Jacobs, 2004). Example of Opinion polls Figure 1Opinion polls regarding government policy Figure 2 Another example of Opinion polls Arguments against the motion Politicians who serve in the office often make use of the public opinion and surveys in order to learn and to judge the views of the public on particular issues. The people in the United States are divided on the opinion on whether the politicians should take or consider the opinion of public let dictate the policy that are framed by the government. It is argued that when the voters in a particular area elect a person who is thought to represent them in the government then it is expected that the person will have a moral backbone and will be able to make reasonable and sound judgments. When people elect a particular person to represent them in the government they do not want to elect such a person who will blindly follow the opinion of public while making decisions (Sidlow and Henschen, 2005). It is also stated that the public opinion is not always right or not always in the best interest of the nation. For example it was found at a time that polls in America supported the policy of racial segregation. So can it be assumed that racial segregation was a good policy and should have been a reasonable policy? Another fact that should be noted in this fact is that often it so happens that people who respond to the questions that are asked in the opinion polls have little time to dwell or think on the question (Weissberg, 2001). This shows that their responses to the polls can thus hardly be regarded as given after thoughtful considered judgments. As stated by some modern political scientist the opinion polls only give us the fact that is known by the citizens at the moment when the question is asked. Often it is the case that people who respond to the poles are often not aware of all the information on particular issues. Another fact is that the policy choices involve risks and consequences and these facts are not addressed when an opinion poll is considered or undertaken. It is the hall mark of any sound policy decision to take into consideration these risks (Copsey, 2013). The fault of decision making through opinion polls is that the opinion polls do not let consider these risks. Conclusion For the above mentioned reasons government needs to use public opinion polls for making policy decisions. By this process the officials will have a clear understanding regarding the conditions and wants of the citizens. According to that they can insist the government in forming effective rules and regulations in the country. The people who talk against the motion are of the view that public officials should be left to use their own judgments while framing a public policy and if the public opinion is allowed to determine the issues of policy then it would spell badly for the democracy. If policy decisions are made based on the snap judgments of these uninformed respondents then there are chances that a wrong decision might be taken. References Burstein, P. (2003). The impact of public opinion on public policy: A review and an agenda. Political research quarterly, 56(1), 29-40. Carpini, M. X. D., Cook, F. L., & Jacobs, L. R. (2004). Public deliberation, discursive participation, and citizen engagement: A review of the empirical literature. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., 7(1), 315-344. Clement, S. (2013). How Americans see global warming — in 8 charts. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/22/how-americans-see-global-warming-in-8-charts/ Copsey, N. (2013). Public Opinion and the Making of Foreign Policy in the 'New Europe': A Comparative Study of Poland and Ukraine. London: Ashgate Publishing. Sidlow, E., & Henschen, B. (2005). America at odds. CA: Cengage Learning. Weissberg, R. (2001). Policy analysis. Retrieved from http://www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS234/articles/weissberg.pdf Read More