Public Opinion (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what public opinion is, its history, importance and characteristics. In addition, we tell you in what ways it is expressed.

A group of workers protest, expressing their opinion. — Public opinion is the opinion that the majority of society has regarding an issue.

What is public opinion?

Public opinion It is the manifestation of the feelings of the majority of the population of a society on a topic of general interest. In other words, it is the opinion that the majority of society has regarding an issue, or often the estimate and appreciation that experts make of said opinion.

This is a topic of interest for political science and political communication, which in the modern world tends to go hand in hand with the mass media and the debates that occur in them. Thus, within public opinion there is a set of possible positions that people assume regarding an issue, but this becomes relevant when a majority position is imposed, whether it is rejection of a measure taken by the government, support to a political candidate or any other matter of public interest.

In the modern political exercise, public opinion plays a determining role and that is why political actors take care of their reputation. This It is because sovereignty resides in the popular will that is, that a politician detested by the majority has little chance of winning an election, for example, or that an outraged population is capable of putting pressure on its government to force it to take certain measures.

Hence, also, why so much daily effort is dedicated to measuring or understanding public opinion, to know, in general terms, what the population thinks and feels.

History of public opinion

Public opinion has existed since Antiquity, although in the republics of the classical era not all citizens had the right to express their opinion. In the democracies of Ancient Greece For example, there was no idea that the entire population should participate in the debate regarding public affairs, but rather that Public opinion was restricted to that of male, free, Greek citizens

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Instead, In absolute monarchies, both ancient and medieval, public opinion did not play an important role in political leadership, since the dominant classes (the aristocracy and the clergy) had full control of the State and no intention of consulting the majorities. Even so, The Church played a key role in social control, imposing certain political positions through its doctrine as kings were placed on the throne by God, and therefore any alteration of the dynastic order constituted a sin.

The modern concept of public opinion emerged from the hand of modernity and liberalism as a new political and social order was imposed along with the development of the bourgeoisie and capitalism. Although this meant that political affairs had to involve the bulk of the population, initially a distinction was made between the opinion of educated citizens and Parliament (“legal opinion”) and the opinion of the plebs (“natural opinion”).

Thus, a rather unequal order was established in a society where access to education was a minority. But this, in any case, represented an important change: it was no longer necessary to have been born noble to participate in the destiny of the nation.

With the passage of time and industrialization, mass society took place and with it a significant change in the concept of public opinion, given that The leadership of society now depended on convincing the majorities owners of their vote.

Characteristics of public opinion

The media express public opinion through interviews. — Public opinion can be influenced by information transmitted by the media.

Broadly speaking, public opinion is characterized by:

It consists of the sum of society's positions on an issue of interest, especially when there is a majority or dominant position.
It's changeable and susceptible to being influenced by the events that occurred and the information expressed in the media.
It is considered a weighty element in the political debate although it is not always taken into account by rulers and political actors. For example, in a dictatorship, public opinion is ignored and punished.
Can be expressed through institutional means (such as voting), forceful actions (strikes, demonstrations) or collective instances (assemblies, publications).
It has direct consequences in the exercise of politics and the leadership of the nation.

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Importance of public opinion

Public opinion is fundamental in the modern exercise of politics. In principle because it expresses the collective feeling and popular desire, which makes it possible to establish feedback between political power and citizens, and thus make the most appropriate decisions based on the expression of the majority.

Likewise, public opinion allows the population to express their discontent and organize politically to put pressure and influence political decision-making. In this, the mass media play, in turn, an important role.

Ways in which public opinion is expressed

A ballot box in a market collects the public opinion of passersby. — Voting allows us to know the wishes of the population directly.

Public opinion can be expressed in different ways:

Demonstrations and protests. They consist of meetings of people in a public space (squares, streets) with the purpose of expressing support or discontent regarding some decision, event or political, social or economic system. They are usually organized on important dates for the public (such as anniversaries) and include signs, banners, flags and other ways to make a message or claim visible.
Strikes and boycotts. They consist of actions that confront the political system by generating discomfort in everyday life, momentarily stopping the flow of work and the economy. They generally occur after several demonstrations have been ignored, as a way to increase the pressure exerted by public opinion on the leadership of the country. Strikes consist of scheduled and temporary absences from work, while boycotts consist of calls to stop the consumption or use of certain goods and services, as a method of protest.
Votes, referendums and plebiscites. They consist of the electoral participation of the crowd in an institutional call (or self-convened), to support a candidate or choose an option in a consultation. In these events the majority expresses their desire directly and anonymously.
Virtual protests. They consist of demonstrations carried out remotely, using virtual and digital spaces (such as social networks) to spread and make a message visible. They are a relatively new form of protest, allowed by the popularization of ICT and 2.0 spaces.
Opinion polls. They consist of measurement instruments applied by public or private organizations to probe what people think through a statistical sample. These tools can be more or less reliable for different sectors and political and social actors, which is why they are often done and with different consultation methods: in person, by telephone, digitally, among others.

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Public opinion and democracy

In democratic systems of government, public opinion is always an important political factor, given that The appointment of those in charge of power is carried out through popular election. So a politician's reputation directly affects his or her ability to receive votes and be elected.

With this, however, there is a risk of falling into populist attitudes, that is, governing to please public opinion, through short-term and demagogic decisions that are harmful in the long run, but that allow a politician to remain in power.

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