Numbered Voices

Publisher description: Quantifying the American mood through opinion polls appears to be an unbiased means for finding out what people want. But in Numbered Voices, Susan Herbst demonstrates that the way public opinion is measured affects the use that voters, legislators, and journalists make of it. Exploring the history of public opinion in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, Herbst shows how numbers served both instrumental and symbolic functions, not only conveying neutral information but creating a basis authority. Addressing how the quantification of public opinion has affected contemporary politics and the democratic process, Herbst asks difficult but fundamental questions about the workings of American politics.

First sentence: FORMALIZED TABULATION of political opinions began in the city-states of ancient Greece, where elections were viewed as central components of the democratic process.

Year

1993

Language

English

Publisher

University Of Chicago Press

Editions

1

Pages

235

ISBN

9780226327433

Data source: Wikidata