Public opinion polls are one of the prominent ways that are used to capture the possible outcome of a democratic election because it gives citizens a chance to provide their responses to certain questions and opinions. Democracy enables the people to keep the government in check because it gives the people a voice when it comes to select their appropriate candidate to head political office. Simply put democracy grants power to the people. Many a citizen across the US value the ideals of democracy because it helps to determine which party, Republicans or Democrats, will ascend to power. Democracy is also shown as a strategy used by parties and the people to voice their needs.
Yes, the video outlines the different challenges that threaten to undermine the credibility of democratic institutions. For instance, the US democratic system is very open and powerful, but certain individuals with influence use their power to fund campaign objectives of a party that seems to support their political objectives. In such instances, democratic principles do not make any sense to such individuals thereby granting power to individuals who lack genuine trust to democracy.
The video also points out that public opinion polls are sometimes skewed towards supporting the policies and aspirations of certain parties. Majority of polls often have fewer respondents thereby making it difficult to use generalization to represent the needs of the American people. Equally, the questions in opinion polls are often designed in a manner that it touches on items that are already presented in campaign agendas of political parties. This contributes in favoring the outcome of certain parties. Polls should be based on a scientific method that makes it transparent when interpreting the outcomes of polls. Other than the sampling method, the questions in public opinion polls must be fair, understandable, and categorized into groups that can enable the people to respond without encountering any difficulties.
Work Cited
Democracy in America. Web. http://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_11/dia_11_video.html
