ABSTRACT
Unlike voting behavior, protest actions, or the activities of political parties and interest groups, public opinion is not in itself a form of political participation. However, the views of the public on a range of issues and the political values that undergird those views greatly influence other forms of political behavior. These help to determine, for instance, for whom citizens vote, whether they engage in other political activities, and whether they vote at all. Further, in an era of near-constant polling of every type, public opinion surveys have become a de facto form of political participation, albeit a passive one based on the initiative of newspapers, government officials, and other actors who collect information from the mass public. This is especially true in countries, such as the United States, with vigorous free presses and frequent competitive elections. But even closed, authoritarian governments must take the pulse of public opinion, if only to figure out how to promote the cooperation and dampen the resistance of their populations.
