Ideally this supposition is correct, but even in advanced western countries they have found that there seem to be considerable discrepancies between the views of lawmakers or the media and those of the average man in the street. It was thought that plutocratic influences or the pressure of interest groups might prevent real "grass-roots" opinions from being expressed; so opinion polls were developed.
理想上這種假設並沒有錯，但是即使在西方先進國家，他們卻也發現，議會議員或媒體的意見，好像都跟真正老百姓滿有差距，這很可能是因為金錢主義或利益團體的影響，使真正「草根」的民意沒法表現出來，因此就發展出民意測驗這套東西來。