The most visible impact of religion on ideology today is seen in the conservatism of white fundamentalist Protestants. United on many questions, Americans are divided by class, race, gender, and religion. These differences are persisting rather than proving prone to irrational shifts, with change occurring in a gradual manner. How Public Opinion Is Organized When elites succeed in managing public opinion, it becomes an echo rather than a voice. But when ordinary Americans have the information to draw conclusions and the time to engage in deliberations, public opinion fulfills the promise of popular democracy.
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.