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A provocative examination of the use and abuse of public opinion polls.
This hard-hitting and engaging examination of polls and American politics asks an essential question: do polls contribute to the vitality of our democracy or are they undermining the health of our political system? Leading scholars address several key issues such as how various types of polls affect democracy, the meaning attributed to polling data by citizens and the media, the use of polls by presidents, and how political elites respond-or do not respond-to public polls. The contributors assert that while polls tread a fine line between informing and manipulating the public, they remain valuable so long as a robust democracy obliges its political leaders to respond to the expressed will of the people.
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
1. Polling and the Dilemmas of Democracy
Matthew J. Streb and Michael A. Genovese
2. Presidents, Polls, and the Paradox of Democratic Governance
Michael A. Genovese
3. Presidential Leadership and the Threat to Popular Sovereignty
Lawrence R. Jacobs and Melinda S. Jackson
4. Continuing to Campaign: Public Opinion and the White House
Diane J. Heith
5. Do Polls Give the Public a Voice in a Democracy?
Michael W. Traugott
6. When Push Comes to Shove: Push Polling and the Manipulation of Public Opinion
Matthew J. Streb and Susan H. Pinkus
7. Are Exit Polls Bad for Democracy?
Gerald C. Wright
8. Deliberative Polling, Public Opinion, and Democratic Theory
James S. Fishkin
9. Polling in a Robust Democracy
Michael A. Genovese and Matthew J. Streb
References
List of Contributors
Index