The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy

Ours is an era of stunted public discourse, this text argues, where instant polls, 900 numbers, orchestrated petitions and talk-show campaigning appear to have overwhelmed participatory democracy. What has become of the freely reasoned public debate and informed "consent of the governed" that, as cherished principle, we hold will produce better leaders and better public decisions? Where or what is the voice of the people today? In this work, James Fishkin evaluates modern democratic practices and explains how the voice of the people has struggled to make itself heard in the past. He tells a story of changing concepts and practices of democracy, with examples that range from ancient Sparta to America's founders to the first Gallup polls to Ross Perot. He then develops the rationale for a new method the "deliberative opinion poll" that uses modern media and survey research to legitimately rediscover the people's voice. Fishkin's proposal for televised deliberative opinion polls has already been realized twice by the British television network Channel 4, and he discusses its implementation in the book. In January 1996, his deliberative poll will be seen in action in a "National Issues Convention" to be broadcast by PBS on the eve of the American presidential primary season. During this broadcast, a national random sample of citizens will interact with presidential contenders in order to reflect and vote on the issues and candidates. Fishkin discusses the pros and cons of this event, giving behind-the-scene details about preparations for it.

Despite being inundated with polls at election time, people increasingly suspect that their voice is being ignored, manipulated and twisted by politicians and lobbyists. James Fishkin, professor of government at the University of Texas, is seeking to restore the public's waning faith in democratic discourse. His solution, which he terms "deliberative democracy," and which he has been test-running in several successful experiments both in Britain and in the U.S., is to physically assemble a large representative sample and to poll the participants only after one or two days of intensive discussion and education on an issue. Fishkin's ideas have sparked interest not only in the political field, but also in other areas where public consultation is necessary, such as making decisions about large-scale utility projects.