Polls are now the leading method to tap public opinion. The founders of modern polling hoped that it would serve as a substitute for the old-fashioned town meeting, and professional pollsters strive to avoid biases that distort what the public thinks. Yet polls organize public opinion in an artificial way. Polling often does not capture the full range of answers a respondent gives, nor does it allow for the interaction and deliberation that are essential to popular democracy. For example, these methods were used during the Persian Gulf War.
Elites can also distort public opinion.
Victorious in the 1994 elections, Republicans claimed that the Contract had been given public endorsement. Yet most Americans had not heard of the Contract by election day, more voters opposed it than favored it, and it rapidly lost favor once the Republicans tried to put it into effect. Most Americans hold coherent beliefs about politics that are rooted in their life circumstances. Public opinion is improved by additional information and changes in sensible ways. It is at its best when elite distortions are limited and when the public is free to organize and engage in a democratic debate.