15 Facts About Public opinion

Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society.

Public opinion regarded the latter as of the highest importance because dislike and ill opinion force people to conform in their behaviour to social norms, however he didn't consider public opinion as a suitable influence for governments.

Public opinion observed that "when vast numbers of men submit their lives and fortunes absolutely to the will of one, it must be force of custom, or opinion which subjects power to authority".

Public opinion thought it important that all government acts and decisions should be subject to the inspection of public opinion, because "to the pernicious exercise of the power of government it is the only check".

Public opinion opined that public opinion had the power to ensure that rulers would rule for the greatest happiness of the greater number.

Public opinion brought in Utilitarian philosophy in order to define theories of public opinion.

Habermas claimed that the Public opinion Sphere featured universal access, rational debate, and disregard for rank.

However, he believes that these three features for how public opinion are best formed are no longer in place in western liberal democratic countries.

Formation of public opinion starts with agenda setting by major media outlets throughout the world.

Public opinion can be influenced by public relations and the political media.

The accessibility of social media allows public opinion to be formed by a broader range of social movements and news sources.

Gunn Enli identifies the Internet's effect on public opinion as being “characterised by an intensified personalisation of political advocacy and increased anti-elitism, popularisation and populism”.

Public opinion has become more varied as a result of online news sources being influenced by political communication and agenda setting.

For example, domestic affairs public opinion will be of greater importance than that of foreign affairs because of the complexity.

Baum and Kernell have stated that a challenge that modern presidents face when trying to persuade public opinion is that there is so many different types of media, that getting people's attention is hard.