Public Opinion and the Formation of a Democratic Society

In theory, public opinion should influence the formation of democratic societies tremendously, since the definition of democracy is “a system of government by the whole population,” (Oxford American Dictionaries, 2011). In fact, more often than not, it doesn't.


One thing to note here is that most modern democracies function differently than “small town democracies” used to. In a small town it was possible to gather everyone’s opinion in a setting like a city council meeting, and everyone could weigh equally on decisions about governing the town. Because the United States is a large society, democracy works much differently here. With a large society, it is not possible to sit the whole population down in a room to gather their opinions or make decisions about how to operate said society. In the United states, since it is not realistic to have 300 million people come to a consensus about anything, we have elected representatives who may or may not actually have the true public opinion at heart.


In a society with elected representatives, political participation becomes a very important consideration in how public opinion influences the formation of that society. Often political participation rates are not high, which means that the same prospect of governing based on public opinion becomes much more difficult and public opinion becomes much less influential.  However, when people do participate politically, public opinion can affect the formation of a democratic society through what the people vote for. Additionally, what people want and believe does affect what the different branches of government do, and who resides in those seats of power.


The core mechanisms of political participation (especially in the United States) are political parties, finance and elections (Katznelson, 128). Political parties offer voters more clear-cut choices (Katznelson, 128), which can encourage less educated voters to participate more. Finance plays a key role in political participation by helping decide who gets to compete in general elections. And of course, elections give the public a venue to express their opinions.


Another noteworthy thing is that “political participation in the United States is slanted toward the rich in terms of voting turnout, campaign contributions, and political activism” (Katznelson, 128). Since the influence of public opinion and political participation are highly connected, this means that the opinion of the rich is more influential in our society than the opinion of others.

How can we work towards a system where it is actually public opinion that influences the formation of our democratic society rather than a select few opinions?

Sources:
Katznelson, Ira, Mark Kesselman, and Alan Draper. The politics of power: a critical introduction to American government. 6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2011. 2-12. Print.


New Oxford American Dictionary . 3rd ed. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.