American Public Opinion: Its Origins, Content, And Impact

by Robert S. Erikson, Kent L. Tedin

An in-depth analysis, American Public Opinion explores the following important topics: the origins of public opinion in political socialization; the impact of the media on public opinion; the relevance of public opinion to democratic values; political trust and social capital; and the role of public opinion for elections, political parties and interest groups. As in previous editions, the Updated Seventh Edition examines the relationship between public opinion and policy.

Genres: College, Political Science

394 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edition was published in 1991; thus, it is somewhat dated. Nonetheless, in its time it was a fine textbook on public opinion in the United States. I used this once as a textbook in my political science class on public opinion. Students seemed to appreciate the book, and that is always a plus if you are teaching a class!

The book begins with some theoretical discussion. For instance, what are the ways that public opinion might affect policy decisions in a democracy? The book addresses that issue. The work also considers how one would study public opinion (survey research is the dominant mode of study).

After that, chapters on a variety of aspects of public opinion, such as ideology, party identification, position on the issues; political socialization (how we come to learn about politics); group differences in public opinion; the role of the media regarding public opinion; how public opinion might affect decision making by government.

All in all, a satisfying work. A key plus: linking public opinion with actual decisions made.

[Addie Lovell]

american politics are a circus and everyone involved is the clown