-By Gilien Silsby
“The president’s job approval rating is up”; “50 percent of Americans believe that their taxes will increase in the next year”; “The incumbent senator is the projected winner by a 2-1 margin.”
When it comes to public opinion – especially during an election season – these kinds of sound bites are routinely circulated on political websites, television news, and even through tweets and texts.
But the headlines only tell part of the story, said Lee Epstein, a fellow of the American Academy and USC provost professor of law and political science, who edited a recent issue of Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “On Public Opinion” (Fall 2012).
“There is much more to public opinion than a percentage or an outcome reported,” said Epstein. “Some of the nation’s most respected scholars take a close look at how we learn about public opinion and what it tells us. In some cases, their answers are surprising.”
A series of articles, published in Daedalus, analyzes a variety of election issues, including:
· Exit polling - will it survive?
· The mood of the public along a liberal/conservation dimension
· How we learn about public opinion, and what it tells us
· Political ad expenditure in swing states – do they have an effect on voters before the presidential election?
· How important is Latino public opinion in realigning the American electorate?
· Racial differences in political action
· Public opinion – is it stable?
“Each of these topics illuminates a fascinating aspect of a subject that occupies an important place in the social science literature,” said Epstein. “Even more than that, taken together they make a compelling case for why public opinion should matter to all of us.”
To learn more about the Daedalus issue “On Public Opinion,” please go to http://www.amacad.org/publications/daedalus/12_fall_cover.pdf.
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