Voice in Democracy

The United States government is what is known as a constitutional republic, meaning that citizens, rather than individually represent themselves, vote for legal representatives who act on their behalf. While the ideal version of this system would lead to candidates, “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” often times it becomes necessary for constituents to communicate with their chosen representatives in order to tell them exactly what it is they want. By allowing citizens to play a role in the actions of their government, the chance of tyrannical rule is diminished and the knowledge of the public also increases. While there are certainly weaknesses to a system where public opinion matters in policy, the benefits cannot be discounted. The issue then becomes how people best can send their message to the government, and how ought the government to interpret this information when making decisions.

As a basic definition, public opinion is the collection of beliefs and ideals of groups of people on certain issues which are relevant to the government. This concept is gauged through a series of traits measuring importance, susceptibility to change, intensity and direction. One of the most common ways to ascertain public opinion is to take a poll. A poll is when a small group of people, representative of a larger group are asked their opinion on an issue or event. Because the entire population is not being asked, however, the poll can be easily distorted. To counter this, political scientists often use a random sample, allowing each member of the population an equal chance of being chosen.

Despite these attempts to improve polling accuracy, surveys are susceptible to a number of errors. The most common of which is a samplin...

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...iefs to their elected leaders. To disregard the vital role the public plays in the decision-making process is to disregard the very institution of a democracy. Representatives have recognized the incredible power wielded by the public, and, as a result, have developed the system of the permanent campaign, in which they are constantly listening and responding to the will of their constituents. It is important to understand that the public has a voice, but is even more important to understand what it is they are saying. By studying political participation, the way people vote, the rallies they attend, the organizations they boycott and the speakers they gather around, political analysts can better gauge the mood of the public and respond according to the will and desires of this conglomerated mass of individuals that collectively form the United States of America.