DEMOCRATIC THEORY AND PUBLIC OPINION

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 16, S. 313-331

Abstract

Theorists analyse how a democratic electorate is supposed to behave, public opinion research claims to know how it actually behaves. A four part course is outlined enabling both to contribute to each other by bringing democratic practice into greater harmony with requirements and assumptions of democratic theory. (1) Prerequisites of Electorate Decision - includes personality attributes, interests, participation, data on the amount of political interest, its fluctuations, and incidence among pop groups. 3 types of interest are cited: spectator (regarding the campaign as a dramatic spectacle), citizen (deciding how to vote), and partisan (securing the election of one's, candidate). Those most interested are found to be most partisan and least changeable. (2) Components of Electorate Decisions -includes possession of adequate knowledge in order to make decisions (the public is not well informed) and ways in which information is used by electorate in making decisions. (3) Process of Electorate Decision-includes processes of perception, communication and discussion using data on who talks to whom and what they say, hear and talk about. The ambiguity of the term `rationality' is cited, and research suggested that will relate the demand of rationality to the analysis of decision decision making. (4) Outcome of Electorate Decision. The voter is supposed to arrive at political decisions on the basis of considering the common good. How can a distinction between honest conclusions and forced rationalizations be made by researchers? It is concluded that public opinion studies have done mucn to illuminate what actually happens in democratic decision making by: (a) documenting theoretical assumptions with facts on actual political behavior, (b) clarifying the concepts and assumptions of democratic theory by insisting on researchable formulations, and (c) differentiating and reformulating general theoretical propositions into more exact terms. R. S. Halpern.