Question

What are the benefits and drawbacks of releasing to the public opinion polls on upcoming elections?

Answer 1

Public opinion polls during elections offer insights and influence media coverage and campaign donations, potentially impacting voter behavior. Drawbacks include potential inaccuracies and influence on voter turnout. The debate on banning exit polls centers around the trade-off between information access and preventing undue voter influence.

Step-by-step explanation:

The release of public opinion polls during election seasons comes with both benefits and drawbacks. One significant advantage is the ability for major media outlets to publish their carefully collected data, which can impact the election by highlighting candidates' strengths and weaknesses. They influence the media's portrayal of candidates, often giving more coverage and campaign donations to those leading in the polls. Learned behaviors among voters, such as the bandwagon effect, suggest that seeing a candidate leading in the polls may sway public opinion further in their favor.

However, there are several drawbacks to consider. Exit polls, while providing a snapshot of election outcomes, may not always be accurate due to non-response and dishonesty among participants. Furthermore, since early and absentee voting is on the rise, exit polls miss a significant portion of the electorate, compromising their representativeness. Additionally, there is a risk of influencing voter behavior by either dissuading people from voting if they believe the outcome is predetermined or creating a false sense of security among a candidate's supporters.

Considering the complexity of the issue, whether to ban exit polls is a contentious topic. Proponents argue it could prevent potential voter influence and maintain election integrity. On the other side, opponents claim that banning would inhibit the public's access to information and the press's freedom to report. In the balance, one has to consider the value of informed voting versus the potential harm in voter influence and misinformation.

Answer 2

Some of the advantages achieved through public opinion polling are the ability to better predict the outcome of elections, determine how the public's views change during a period of time and the gaining of a better understanding of the issues in question by those individuals who are being polled. An improved awareness of the issues at hand, which can be generated by polls, leads to active dialogues and more informed choices. The results obtained through polls also began to have an effect on the decisions made by political leaders during the 1980s as elected officials no longer needed to guess at what their constituents were thinking.

It has been argued by some observers that opinion polls can sometimes work to influence the choices made by voters in addition to just predicting their ballot selections. There are two theories regarding how this might occur: the bandwagon effect and underdog effect. The bandwagon effect is believed to act as a persuasive force that can cause some voters to switch their support to the candidate that the polls show is leading. The underdog effect is the inverse, and is believed to cause some individuals to vote out of sympathy for the candidate that the polls show is losing.

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