**Are public opinion polls a benefit or a curse to American politics? What influence do they have on campaigns? On governing? What do critics point to as the key weaknesses of public opinion polls? Do you agree? Explain?
Public opinion polls are both a benefit and a curse to American politics. The polls are beneficial because they provide information on public opinion and allow political entities to pass laws and create change based on the needs of the people. Unfortunately, they are also a curse because sometimes the poll questions are biased to create the response the pollsters want, not the people. For example, an unbiased poll is one that asks the public if the think the government should continue sending troops to other countries, or extract troops. A biased poll is one that asks the people if the government should continue sending troops to other countries that will probably end in fatalities of many Americans, or extract troops and save potentially thousands of lives. These results are biased and create change that is not necessarily what the people want.
Public opinion polls influence campaigns by not only selling politicians through key phrases, but negatively expressing the views of other politicians. Similar to the example above, a poll could be made days before an election by one politician negatively representing an opposing politic by saying something like "would you still vote for this person if you knew he wanted to increase taxation to the middle class of America?".
One weakness of public opinion polls is that they create what is called the "bandwagon effect". This is the idea that people see the results of polls and vote for a certain person only because that is what everyone else is doing. I think this is a huge issue and creates uncertainty in government. Everyone should have their own opinion and if they don't have an opinion, then they shouldn't be voting. It may seem a little extreme, but having a smaller portion of the people expressing individualistic views is much better than having a large portion of the population voting just because everyone else is.
Very interesting thoughts. I strongly agree and think that polls are swaying the way people vote one way rather than another due to "majority rule" or what the majority of people choose when they are asked to participate in a poll. It's unfortunate that some polls are biased because Americans should be able to express their own opinion...not that of their neighbor. The
ReplyDeletegraying of America is especially obvious when it comes to polls, and I think the biggest factor is the lack of knowledge most people have today. We should be able to use what we know to answer a poll, not go by what everyone else says.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that lack of knowledge causes the polls to be incorrect. I'm glad someone understands how important it is to have one's own voice and opinion.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree and I love the example you used, it really simplifies the topic.
ReplyDeletehey
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