Discuss the various forms or methods of obtaining public opinion data Essay

Discuss the various forms or methods of obtaining public opinion data. To what extent if any should politicians be responsive to public opinion data Should polls dictate war policy - Essay Example This has become one of the most popular methods of conducting opinion poll of burning issues and public policies. Online surveys are sent either through email or come up on surfing sites which are often answered if they are issues which are important or interesting. The huge data collected on online surveys helps generate more accurate results. In this method, people are requested to fill in questionnaire or asked questionnaires verbally while they are shopping in malls or streets. This is also quite successful as short questionnaires are answered and one gets quite large sample. House calls are made for opinion survey and questionnaires are answered at relatively relaxed environment of home. Due to increasing cost, it is no more very popular. But in important public policy issues, this method becomes more reliable. Politicians should be very responsive to the public opinion as they are representative of people and primarily represent their interest in the government. But it is also very controversial because the public opinion can also be very emotive and may be manipulated by vested interests (Foyle, 1999). But at the same time, it is also true that public opinion, when represented by large sample, is distinct in its trend and therefore must be treated seriously, especially as a reciprocal relationship that highlights democratic values. In democratic state, people’s power is centric to all decision making processes, within and outside the government, for all welfare programs and policies for the wider development issues like socio-economic issues, energy, infrastructure, healthcare etc. Very often, opinion polls become important tools that influence politicians’ stand on vital issues to win the trust of people, whom they represent or want to gain confidence of. The polls should dictate war policies because in the recent times, large public money has been diverted to

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and Kants Perpetual Peace Research Paper

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and Kants Perpetual Peace - Research Paper Example The people who lived stress less life had good morals and they were filled with pity, and thus they could not hurt one another (Kant et al 3). As time progressed, the man began to change. As the number of people increased, the ways in which people could satisfy meet their daily needs changed. Because of the difficulties that people began experiencing, they started seeing each other and also began living together. They called these places communities because many people created large areas and made them settlements. They also continued working but they did so by dividing work between themselves. This they called it a division of labour and it happened between small units of people which were known as families. Division of labour leads to the invention of tools and other practices such as farming that made life easier. The fact that they worked and become tired led to the need for rest (Kant et al 4). They thus recognized the need to rest and work the following day, which they called l eisure after some time doing that. During leisure, people began to talk about the comparison between one community and another and also between themselves. This comparison brought about public values that led to shame and pride when one was told to be more superior to others. In addition, a certain community was considered more powerful than others if they had more resources. This started to make people envy property and pride and contempt. The desire for one to be recognized as superior or powerful, lead to some people isolating themselves from others. Isolation made these people accumulate property of their own. Soon the society leant of private property as important resources that brought pride and fame.