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Does public opinion affect political speech? Of particular interest is whether public opinion affects (i) what topics politicians address and (ii) what positions they endorse. We present evidence from Germany where the government was recently forced to declassify its public opinion research, allowing us to link the content of the research to subsequent speeches. Our causal identification strategy exploits the exogenous timing of the research's dissemination to cabinet members within a window of a few days. We find that exposure to public opinion research leads politicians to markedly change their speech. First, we show that linguistic similarity between political speech and public opinion research increases significantly after reports are passed on to the cabinet, suggesting that politicians change the topics they address. Second, we demonstrate that exposure to public opinion research alters politicians' substantive positions in the direction of majority opinion. ; Peer Reviewed

Does public opinion affect political speech? Of particular interest is whether public opinion affects (i) what topics politicians address and (ii) what positions they endorse. We present evidence from Germany where the government was recently forced to declassify its public opinion research, allowing us to link the content of the research to subsequent speeches. Our causal identification strategy exploits the exogenous timing of the research's dissemination to cabinet members within a window of a few days. We find that exposure to public opinion research leads politicians to markedly change their speech. First, we show that linguistic similarity between political speech and public opinion research increases significantly after reports are passed on to the cabinet, suggesting that politicians change the topics they address. Second, we demonstrate that exposure to public opinion research alters politicians' substantive positions in the direction of majority opinion.

When promoting social change, public opinion plays a crucial role regarding the way different groups in society react to the proposed change. In this paper I will discuss how the Theory of Social Representations could inform social marketing campaigns to facilitate change in public opinion. This case study is about changing public opinion towards organ donation and as a result, increasing the number of donor card holders. To do this, formative research was carried out before the campaign. Attitudes towards organ donation were investigated using three data collecting tools: (i) a survey using a quota sample of 400 people; (ii) five focus groups and (iii) interviews with doctors, donor families and recepients. The data colleted from the survey was subjected to statistical analysis including hierarchical log-linear analysis and homogeniety analysis. Transcripts from the focus groups and interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The survey was repeated four times over a period of ten years to track the change in public opinion regarding organ donation. It was found that public opinion changed partially as a result of the campaign. Some changes was sustained for ten years after the campaign. ; peer-reviewed

This article argues that in his "Party Press Essays," James Madison expounds a psychology of public opinion that is identifiable, but less developed, in his earlier writings. In these essays, Madison explains how a territorial mean, or a "practicable sphere," contributes to a psychological mean that creates a context for the emergence of an enlightened majority capable of mobilizing against an abusive regime. Attending to Madison's psychology of public opinion highlights the political importance of affect in Madison's thought and clarifies his position regarding the appropriate role of the people in a republic.

Topological concepts are applied to the description of decision making when support for the resulting policy is an important criterion. Using the example of governmental decisions concerning construction of a nuclear energy plant in West Germany, based on research by Battelle Instit, Frankfurt am Main, (S. van Buriren, B. von Devivere, M. Dierkes, H. Gallard, H. Hildebrand, I. Schmid-Jorg, I. Schubert, & G. Troeller, 'Burgerinitiativen im Bereich von Kernkraftwerken,' [Citizen Initiatives in the Area of Nuclear Power Plants] Bonn, West Germany: Der Bundesminister fur Forschung und Technologie, 1975), a model is developed that describes how certain input or control factors (need for energy & danger of nuclear technology) can combine to produce discontinuous or divergent (eg, developing opposing positions form a common starting point) policy decisions. The way in which normal & splitting factors interact to produce discontinuous & divergent behavior is conceptualized & applied to a wide variety of situations, especially those involving choice. 5 Figures. Modified HA.

The article discusses public opinion research, its historical development and methodological properties. Article begins with an overview of development of public opinion research. A lot of attention is given to the criterion of representativeness, whose importance was already evident in the early attempts to prognose the election results. The further and most important part of article contains the discussion of the structure public opinion research and its elements.

Utilizing both a critical thinking approach and a comparative perspective throughout the text, Sobel and Shiraev provide comprehensive coverage of public opinion while also teaching students the basic skills necessary for measurement, understanding, and interpreting. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this text provides a unique and practical introduction to the field of public opinion. The book begins by schooling the reader in how to think critically and then helps students apply those techniques as they encounter the concepts of public opinion. The text also employs a comparative perspective, demonstrating the effect and nature of public opinion in other countries while also placing American public opinion in context.

Politicians learning about public opinion and responding to their resulting perceptions is one key way via which responsive policy-making comes about. Despite the strong normative importance of politicians' understanding of public opinion, empirical evidence on how politicians learn about these opinions in the first place is scant. Drawing on survey data collected from almost 900 incumbent politicians in five countries, this study presents unique descriptive evidence on which public opinion sources politicians deem most useful. The findings show that politicians deem direct citizen contact and information from traditional news media as the most useful sources of public opinion information, while social media cues and polls are considered much less useful. These findings matter for substantive representation, and for citizens' feeling of being represented.

Examining American attitudes toward Israel, this article demonstrates that religious beliefs and elite polarization both play a significant role in predicting public opinion about foreign policy. It is argued that the growing gap in partisan support for Israel is explained by two related transformations in the American political parties: the emergence of new religious cleavages and the polarization of the political parties. Using a time series of public attitudes toward Israel since 1967, it is revealed that the partisan support is strongly explained by religious preferences, that these religious preferences have aligned with partisan identification in the 1990s, and that the polarization between Democratic and Republican elites in recent years has further distanced the attitudes of Republican and Democratic identifiers. Adapted from the source document.