Public Opinion

History of Public Opinion

Gallup and associates did not invent the concept of public opinion. Since the time of ancient Greece, philosophers and political leaders have acknowledged that governments must be mindful of “the people,” the “common will,” the “public spirit,” or the “public conscience.” Even before the rise of scientific polling, there were other methods of assessing the public mood. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, public opinion in Europe was often communicated to the Parliament or other legislative bodies, via local lords and nobles, through petitions that enumerated the grievances of farmers and local merchants. Public rallies were also a common way to express public opinion. As printing became cheaper and more popular, the attitudes or demands of the “public” could be found on broadsides or posters (which might reproduce a petition for mass distribution). The eighteenth century also witnessed the rise of European salons and coffeehouses, where members of the public gathered and shared concerns and where political elites could get a sense of how attitudes and opinions were taking shape. In the United States, the nineteenth century saw the rise of informal straw polls and “town hall meetings,” where journalists, party operatives, and citizens would poll communities, often asking for a simple “show of hands,” to ascertain opinions with regard to upcoming elections or public issues.

Before the mid-nineteenth century, the expression of public opinion was mostly local, parochial, and community based (rallies, petitions organized through local patronage, salons and coffeehouses, straw polls); today, however, the concept of public opinion that dominates the American political landscape is based on national polls collected by large polling organizations and national media outlets (USA Today, The New York Times, CBS). This change from local to national expressions of opinion was made possible by new scientific methods of measurement and was motivated, in part, by the rise of the national media and the growth in the size of the federal government and national corporate businesses. Even though the public opinion enterprise today is focused on national issues, national polls, and national elections, the relevance and role of the local community remains critical. In particular, public opinion is very much tied to local government and policy; its formation is the result of community institutions, opinion leaders, and economic, social, and political conditions; and it encourages or constrains political action by creating a local “climate of opinion.”

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