Summary
Contents
Subject index
Public opinion theory and research are becoming increasingly significant in modern societies as people’s attitudes and behaviors become ever more volatile and opinion poll data becomes ever more readily available. This major new Handbook is the first to bring together into one volume the whole field of public opinion theory, research methodology, and the political and social embeddedness of polls in modern societies. It comprehensively maps out the state-of-the-art in contemporary scholarship on these topics.
Chapter 4: Advocacy: Alternative Expressions of Public Opinion
Advocacy: Alternative Expressions of Public Opinion
Citizens have multiple ways of making themselves heard on matters of general concern, most directly when they vote and when they respond to public opinion polls. These are not their only options. They can also sign petitions, join in letter-writing campaigns, stage rallies, parade, celebrate, strike, boycott, engage in civil disobedience, even commit violence, or become otherwise involved in ‘social movement’ activity. Most likely to turn to such alternatives are those to whom more routinely available means for expressing their opinions appear less than fully effective. Such alternative expressions can also contradict what electoral results and polls suggest about the state of public opinion.
We refer to these forms of collective behavior as ‘advocacy’ rather ...
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