Introduction
Several debates have arisen in recent years, undermining democracy and the independence of popular opinion. For many years, dirty politics of deceit focused on grammar, appearance, and representation have influenced people's views, and only a few understand. The use of technology in politics has enabled serious political deceptions that influence public opinion and decide who leads. The aim of this debate is to present distinct claims on ‘what' or ‘who' forms popular sentiment in a democracy.
Educational Impact on Public Opinion
In response to the issue of what Americans think, Charles and James (James and Grigg 141) suggest that the degree of education among the American people has a large impact on public opinion. In their hypothesis, Mr. James and Charles stated that a democratic government is seen as a result of a widespread agreement among the adult members of the society close to 100% agreement. This is what defines how and who gets the political powers in the USA. These two researchers seek to establish the bases of disagreement or agreement on fundamental principles in the democracy (James and Grigg 142). Their quest is to prove that Americans do not understand democracy, even though people feel to follow free will, most of the decisions are merely based on the logic of political theory and not free will (democracy) as anticipated. The findings from the consensus research some community believe that the abstract democratic principles is implemented well when it comes to minorities influencing majority decisions ranging from education, community, sex, age, party etc. (James and Grigg 143)hence seems like they have cultural bases which possess one of the greatest challenges in the negative opinions against democratic principles implementation (James and Grigg 146). From this observation, it is hence clear that when the abstract principles are broken down, the extent of democracy and consensus is limited on this reading and people with greater levels of education tend to accept democratic principles better than the less educated.
Influence of Politicians and Media
Unlike in the first discussion where we see education, culture, and income influencing public opinion, this approach to political implementation of rights and freedoms points to the fact that even though the public has the majority right to influence decisions in the USA, most of these opinions are influenced by the leaders, influentials, and political powers within the nation (Jr 150). This is blamed on the lack of informed opinions on the American public. Very closely similar to this argument, another research carried out by George Orwell to examine the hypothesis that politics and language play a significant role in determining who becomes a leader in America further supported that public opinions had an external influence. According to this study, Americans define political events abroad and even at home through manipulated perceptions preached through political events and candidates. George moves a step further to show how mass media has been abused by politicians and political parties to air/spread their dirty and lying political statements, aiming at winning more votes rather than telling the truth to the people.
The Influence of Appearance in Politics
Unlike other discussions where political language, representation, the power to influence and education, Theodore H. White additionally presents an on-screen presidential discussion amongst John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon (White 264) where the debate presents a very distinctive view towards the influence of public opinion. From his findings, Theodore demonstrates that having the look and conduct of a president influenced people's opinions which possibly determined Kennedy's win. This study highlights that as Richard (vice president) concentrated on debating, Kennedy focused on maintaining a presidential look and which constituted to his win.
Leader Representation in Democracy
Following closely is Edmund Burke's argument that people's opinion converge to leaders who they feel can represent the nation is the best way. Unlike all others, Edmund argues that people should elect someone who they think is going to represent them nationally and internationally (Burke 282). His argument seems to be bringing to more of a moral leader than a political leader.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that public opinion is not as independent as many have been convinced to believe. The rise to win votes in the USA as well as to influence decisions comes as with great perceptions and ignorance of democracy. People's free will is set for violation through good looks and deceptive political languages. Proper amendments to the American constitution must be made to overcome the challenges posed to freedom of public opinion.
Works Cited
Burke, Edmund. “the speech to election.” (1974).
James, w. Prothro and Charles M. Grigg. “fundermental pronciples of democracy: bases of agreement and disagreement.” journal of politics 22 (1960).
Jr, V. O Key. “Public Opinion and American Politics.” (1961).
White, Theodore. “The Making of the President.” 4 (1960): 141-182. Book.