ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the key challenges that face those who wish to conduct and use surveys as a measure of public opinion, and suggests that citizens lack the knowledge or motivation to form sensible policy preferences. The aggregation of disparate preferences may lead to a rational and reasonable opinion, but in practice not all individuals have an equal voice. The book presents evidence that ideology has deep roots in citizens’ social circumstances, their psychological characteristics, and perhaps even in biology. It examines the relationship between public opinion and public policy, including processes of policy feedback. The book explores how changes in the media environment have revolutionized the ways in which politicians communicate with the mass public when building support for their policies and programs.
