manipulated through question wording or the order questions are asked (Streb & Genovese, 2004, p.6). Some also warn that the information may be misused; “In the hands of a modern day Machiavelli they are indeed a threat to democracy, especially where there are politicians in positions of power who are without scruple in the belief that the end justifies the mean, and without constitutional safeguards to protect minority rights” (Worcester, 2013, p.8). For this project it is important to be aware of discussions around how polls influence people’s views. Furthermore, agenda setting is an important aspect of political power, thus we should be critical and ask; who defines the important and dominant questions? As a result we are not only looking at institutional feedback effect and people’s effect through voting and behaviour, but need to be aware that views may be impacted by information and discourses in the media and politics more generally. However, there is a lack of consensus in terms of exactly how and what aspects of citizen’s opinion polls may impact. Sonck and Loosveldt (2010) find that provision of poll information influenced collective opinions (perceptions of collective opinions rather than personal opinion) and not individual opinion, and that “movements in these perceptions of collective opinion were in the direction that could be expected based on the poll information provided” (Sonck & Loosveldt, 2010, p. 249). They also find that the changes in collective opinion still could be observed three months later. In other words some attitudes may be impacted whilst others are not, and changes may or may not be sustained over time. On the other hand some scholars have studied how political knowledge of citizens may impact to what extent and in what way information influence citizens’ attitudes; “The political knowledge possessed by the informed voters better enables them to cut to the core of the flow of the political news” (Hansen, 2009, p.526). The above underlines the importance of critically assessing what we know about citizens attitudes, especially as we need to have more critical discussion and use of the results presented in these polls and surveys. The following will discuss theoretical approaches to support for the welfare state.
manipulated through question wording or the order questions are asked (Streb & Genovese, 2004, p.6). Some also warn that the information may be misused; “In the hands of a modern day Machiavelli they are indeed a threat to democracy, especially where there are politicians in positions of power who are without scruple in the belief that the end justifies the mean, and without constitutional safeguards to protect minority rights” (Worcester, 2013, p.8). For this project it is important to be aware of discussions around how polls influence people’s views. Furthermore, agenda setting is an important aspect of political power, thus we should be critical and ask; who defines the important and dominant questions? As a result we are not only looking at institutional feedback effect and people’s effect through voting and behaviour, but need to be aware that views may be impacted by information and discourses in the media and politics more generally. However, there is a lack of consensus in terms of exactly how and what aspects of citizen’s opinion polls may impact. Sonck and Loosveldt (2010) find that provision of poll information influenced collective opinions (perceptions of collective opinions rather than personal opinion) and not individual opinion, and that “movements in these perceptions of collective opinion were in the direction that could be expected based on the poll information provided” (Sonck & Loosveldt, 2010, p. 249). They also find that the changes in collective opinion still could be observed three months later. In other words some attitudes may be impacted whilst others are not, and changes may or may not be sustained over time. On the other hand some scholars have studied how political knowledge of citizens may impact to what extent and in what way information influence citizens’ attitudes; “The political knowledge possessed by the informed voters better enables them to cut to the core of the flow of the political news” (Hansen, 2009, p.526). The above underlines the importance of critically assessing what we know about citizens attitudes, especially as we need to have more critical discussion and use of the results presented in these polls and surveys. The following will discuss theoretical approaches to support for the welfare state.
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