Notes on the Theory of Political Opinion Formation

1953 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avery Leiserson
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Group Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Relation ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social

The role of public opinion in the political process is more often justified than explained by political theorists. Insofar as contemporary theory offers an explanation, it replaces the primitive democratic notion of “The People as Legislator” with a neo-idealistic conception of public opinion as the “sense of the community” (A. D. Lindsay), an emergent product of the process of public discussion that enfolds the struggle of private group leaders, public administrators, and political representatives to influence the substance and direction of governmental policy.However, this is not the meaning of the term as used either by the man in the street or by the social scientist. In both popular and scientific language “public opinion” has come to refer to a sort of secular idol, and is a “god-term” to which citizens, scientists, and office-holders alike pay allegiance, partly as an act of faith, partly as a matter of observation, partly as a condition of sanity. The public opinion idol has its high priests, claiming to be expert translators of the oracles of the personified deity. The idol aIso has its heretics, divided like all protestants into many denominations. The least heretical sect, perhaps, consists of those who postulate a conceptual fiction somewhat resembling the legal relation of “principal-and-agent,” except that they recognize that political representatives possess the power to act as trustees as well as agents of their amorphous principal.

scholarly journals “Taking the Temperature of the Room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (S1) ◽  
pp. 236-256
Author(s):  
Shannon C McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Development ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Data

Abstract For most of the twentieth century, public opinion was nearly analogous with polling. Enter social media, which has upended the social, technical, and communication contingencies upon which public opinion is constructed. This study documents how political professionals turn to social media to understand the public, charting important implications for the practice of campaigning as well as the study of public opinion itself. An analysis of in-depth interviews with 13 professionals from 2016 US presidential campaigns details how they use social media to understand and represent public opinion. I map these uses of social media onto a theoretical model, accounting for quantitative and qualitative measurement, for instrumental and symbolic purposes. Campaigns’ use of social media data to infer and symbolize public opinion is a new development in the relationship between campaigns and supporters. These new tools and symbols of public opinion are shaped by campaigns and drive press coverage (McGregor 2019), highlighting the hybrid logic of the political media system (Chadwick 2017). The model I present brings much-needed attention to qualitative data, a novel aspect of social media in understanding public opinion. The use of social media data to understand the public, for all its problems of representativeness, may provide a retort to long-standing criticisms of surveys—specifically that surveys do not reveal hierarchical, social, or public aspects of opinion formation (Blumer 1948; Herbst 1998; Cramer 2016). This model highlights a need to explicate what can—and cannot—be understood about public opinion via social media.

Pelaksanaan Jaminan Kesehatan Oleh BPJS Kesehatan Dalam Perspektif Syariah

Liquidity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Iwan Subandi ◽  
Fathurrahman Djamil
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Social Supports ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ministry Of Finance ◽  
Health Support ◽  
The Government

Health is the basic right for everybody, therefore every citizen is entitled to get the health care. In enforcing the regulation for Jaringan Kesehatan Nasional (National Health Supports), it is heavily influenced by the foreign interests. Economically, this program does not reduce the people’s burdens, on the contrary, it will increase them. This means the health supports in which should place the government as the guarantor of the public health, but the people themselves that should pay for the health care. In the realization of the health support the are elements against the Syariah principles. Indonesian Muslim Religious Leaders (MUI) only say that the BPJS Kesehatan (Sosial Support Institution for Health) does not conform with the syariah. The society is asked to register and continue the participation in the program of Social Supports Institution for Health. The best solution is to enforce the mechanism which is in accordance with the syariah principles. The establishment of BPJS based on syariah has to be carried out in cooperation from the elements of Social Supports Institution (BPJS), Indonesian Muslim Religious (MUI), Financial Institution Authorities, National Social Supports Council, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the Social Supports Institution for Helath (BPJS Kesehatan) based on syariah principles could be obtained and could became the solution of the polemics in the society.

The Influence of Modern Party System on the Development of Parliamentarism in Russia: Institutional, Political and Psychological Aspects

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 266-273
Author(s):  
Ivan S. Palitai
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Party System ◽  
Psychological Aspects ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The People ◽  
Voting System ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Opinion Polls

The article is devoted to the modern Russian party system. In the first part of the article, the author shows the historical features of the parties formation in Russia and analyzes the reasons for the low turnout in the elections to the State Duma in 2016. According to the author the institutional reasons consist in the fact that the majority of modern political parties show less and less ability to produce new ideas, and the search for meanings is conducted on the basis of the existing, previously proposed sets of options. Parties reduce the topic of self-identification in party rhetoric, narrowing it down to “branded” ideas or focusing on the image of the leader. In addition, the author shows the decrease in the overall political activity of citizens after the 2011 elections, and points out that the legislation amendments led to the reduction of the election campaigns duration and changes in the voting system itself. The second part of the article is devoted to the study of the psychological aspects of the party system. The author presents the results of the investigation of images of the parties as well as the results of the population opinion polls, held by the centers of public opinion study. On the basis of this data, the author concludes that according to the public opinion the modern party system is ineffective, and the parties don’t have real political weight, which leads to the decrease of the interest in their activities and confidence in them. The author supposes that all this may be the consequence of the people’s fatigue from the same persons in politics, but at the same time the electorate’s desire to see new participants in political processes is formulated rather vaguely, since, according to the people, this might not bring any positive changes.

PENERAPAN PROSEDUR MEDIASI DALAM PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA WAKAF DI PENGADILAN AGAMA

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Syufaat Syufaat
Keyword(s):  
Social Dimension ◽  
Mediation Process ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Proof ◽  
Religious Courts

Waqf has two dimensional meaning; the spiritual dimension that is taqarrub to Allah and the social dimension as the source of Islamic financial for the welfare of the people. Waqf disputes can be caused by several reasons; waqf land is not accompanied with a pledge; waqf is done on the basis of mutual trust so it has no legal proof and ownership. Currently, the choice to use the court is less effective in resolving disputes. Hence, the public ultimately chooses non-litigation efforts as a way to resolve the disputes. Mediation process is preferred by many as it is viewed to be the fairest way where none of the two parties wins or loses (win-win solution). It is also fast and cheap. This study is intended to examine how to solve waqf dispute with mediation model according to the waqf law, and how the application of mediation in the Religious Courts system

ВИДОВИЩЕ ТА ВИДОВИЩНІСТЬ В СУЧАСНІЙ КУЛЬТУРІ УКРАЇНИ

2020 ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Admink Admink ◽  
Катерина Гайдукевич
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social

Обґрунтовано, що видовища характеризуються специфічними ознаками, серед яких варто наголосити на культурній цінності, що виявляється у використанні видовищем різних складових культури. Доведено, що видовища є показниками суспільних зрушень у системі цінностей, ідеологій, наявних і латентних проблем, устремлінь та бажань громадськості. Показано, що в сучасній культурі України пріоритетною є функція соціальної регуляції й формування  суспільної думки, яка реалізується у форматі імітативних практик та множинних культурних інтерпретацій. Проаналізовано напрями, за якими розвиватимуться видовища й видовищність в Україні: зміцнення й популяризація традиційних видовищних заходів; усталення нових видовищних практик; збагачення видовищної культури інноваційними формами та практиками. It is substantiated that the spectacle is characterized by specific features, among which it is worth emphasizing the cultural value that is expressed in the use by the spectacle of different components of the culture. It has been proved that the spectacles are indicators of social shifts in the system of values, ideologies, existing and latent problems, aspirations and desires of the public. It is shown that in the contemporary culture of Ukraine the priority is the function of the social regulation and the formation of the public opinion that is implemented in the format of imitative practices and multiple cultural interpretations. The directions for development of the spectacles and entertainment in Ukraine are analyzed: strengthening and promoting traditional entertainment events; establishing new entertaining practices; the enrichment of the spectacular culture with innovative forms and practices.

The Languages of Petitioning in Early Colonial India

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Jaffe
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Western India ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Early Colonial ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Levels

With relatively few exceptions, personal petitions from individuals have received much less attention from historians than those from groups in the public political sphere. In one sense, personal petitions adopted many of the same rhetorical strategies as those delivered by a group. However, they also offer unique insights into the quotidian relationship between the people and their rulers. This article examines surviving personal petitions to various administrators at different levels of government in western India during the decades surrounding the East India Company’s conquests. The analysis of these petitions helps to refine our understanding of the place of the new judicial system in the social world of early-nineteenth-century India, especially by illuminating the discourse of justice that petitioners brought to the presentation of their cases to their new governors. The conclusion of this article seeks to place the rhetoric of personal petitioning within the larger context of mass political petitioning in India during the early nineteenth century.

The Social Challenges of Involving the General Publics in Garbage Separation and Recycling in Chinese Cities

2014 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 831-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keng Hang Fan
Keyword(s):  
Collection System ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Social Surveys ◽  
The Public ◽  
Informal Recycling ◽  
Almost Everywhere ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Environmental Technologies ◽  
Waste Separation

Waste separation bins that are mainly categorized into recyclable and non-recyclable are being installed almost everywhere in China. It is notable that China is pushing hard to get the public involved in garbage separation and recycling. As an ethnographic research, this paper provides social and cultural explanations of why the roles of these newly designed bins are extremely limited. Explanation of such limitation is deeply concerned with, first, the beliefs and knowledge about recycling of the general publics, and more importantly, the history and hard-to-be-changed culture of informal recycling involving garbage pickers in China. As a foreign Chinese, the author has been running around Beijing and other cities in China to explore into the behind the scene Chinese informal garbage collection system. Using a series of informative social surveys, interviewing the public and personal observation, the paper illustrates and discusses the social challenges and current dilemmas China is facing in attempts to formalize its garbage separation and recycling. The aim of the paper is to address the importance of integrating the existing culture and knowledge of the people with the making of future environmental technologies and policies.

scholarly journals ON THE NEED TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT IN THE TERRITORY OF THE KRASNODAR TERRITORY A PROJECT OF A STANDARD ELECTRONIC PLATFORM FOR MONITORING PUBLIC OPINION ON HEALTH ISSUES IN THE MUNICIPALITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
S.А. Kuemzhieva ◽  
◽  
V.V. Goncharov ◽  
D.D. Oblogin ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Individual State ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Constant Control ◽  
The People ◽  
Goals And Objectives ◽  
Municipal Level

The article is devoted to the study of the need to develop and implement on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory a project of a standard electronic platform for monitoring public opinion on health issues in the municipality. The authors substantiate the position that the powers delegated by the people to the public authorities need constant control by the public. Without public control, there is a risk of appropriation of power, usurpation of power by individual state authorities and their officials. The mechanism of feedback between the authorities and the people, one of the elements of which is the monitoring of public opinion, plays an important role in the implementation of the constitutional principle of democracy. At the same time, it is important to monitor public opinion on local issues at the municipal level, since these issues affect the vast majority of the country's population. A significant segment of local issues is somehow related to the organization and functioning of health care institutions and the provision of medical services to the population. In this regard, it seems necessary to develop and implement in the territory of the Krasnodar Territory a project of a standard electronic platform for monitoring public opinion on health issues in the municipality. The article analyzes the goals and objectives of this project, examines the main problems associated with its formation and implementation, justifies the main stages of project preparation, as well as a list of measures to improve regional legislation that will contribute to the implementation of this project. The paper uses a number of methods of scientific research, in particular: the methods of induction; deduction; classification; statistical; sociological; comparative-legal; historical; formal-logical.

scholarly journals The Limits of Income Inequality: Public Support for Social Policy across Rich Democracies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Carola Hommerich
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Societies ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Income Concentration

Does public opinion react to inequality, and if so, how? The social harms caused by increasing inequality should cause public opinion to ramp up demand for social welfare protections. However, the public may react to inequality differently depending on institutional context. Using ISSP and WID data (1980-2006) we tested these claims. In liberal institutional contexts (mostly English-speaking), increasing income inequality predicted higher support for state provision of social welfare. In coordinated and universalist contexts (mostly of Europe), increasing inequality predicted less support. Historically higher income concentration predicted less public support, providing an account of the large variation in inequality within the respective liberal and coordinated contexts. The results suggest opinions in liberal societies – especially with higher historical inequality – reached the limits of inequality, reacting negatively; whereas in coordinated/universalist societies – especially with lower historical inequality – opinions moved positively, as if desiring more inequality.

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