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Power, Money, Pollsters... The Usual Suspects

March 23 2004

The American public continues to worry about the influence of big companies, lobbyists and the media in Washington, according to the latest Harris Poll. However, whilst there is 4 to 1 support for more influence for public opinion, opinion *polls* are not necessarily seen as the way to gauge it.

As with earlier polls, very large majorities of the public believe that big companies (83%), political action committees (PACs) which give money to candidates (81%), political lobbyists (72%) and the news media (71%) all have too much power and influence in Washington. Meanwhile, very large majorities also believe that small business (88%) and public opinion (72%) have too little power and influence.

Whilst a big 72% to 18% majority believes that public opinion has too little power, only a 47% to 36% plurality feels this way about opinion polls. Harris concludes that many people do not believe that opinion polls provide a fair and balanced presentation of public opinion. 'One reason (which was obvious during the impeachment of President Clinton) is that most people tend to share the political views of those they talk to' says the release. 'When polls show people that they are only a minority, there is a tendency to distrust the polls, because 'almost everyone I talk with agrees with me''.

A 53% majority feels that churches and religious organizations have too little influence. Conversely, a majority (54% to 28%) believes that TV and radio talk shows have too much political clout. A 54% majority believes that racial minorities have too little power and influence, although this is down from 59% last year, while the proportion who think that racial minorities have too much power and influence is up from 20% to 31%, the biggest single change in poll results over the last year.

There are two institutions where there is no majority view. A 48% to 37% plurality believes labor unions have too much power and influence. And a 47% to 36% plurality believes opinion polls have too little power and influence.

Some of these views (but not all) are heavily influenced by party affiliation Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to believe that labor unions have too much power (67% vs. 38%); and that opinion polls (42% vs. 30%) and racial minorities (39% vs. 21%) have too much power. Democrats are more likely to consider the influence of TV and radio talk shows excessive (62% vs. 48%), and that of churches and religious organization (40% vs. 17%). However, the gap is much narrower when it comes to political lobbyists (77% vs. 67%) or the news media (77% vs. 65%).

Looking longer term, numbers who think the news media have too much power and influence have actually declined in the last decade from 79% to 71%, as has the figure for racial minorities, from 38% to 31% [ie this more or less halved between 1994 and 2003 but has risen again]. There has also been a ten-point decline from 82% to 72% who think that public opinion has too little influence.

1,020 Americans aged 18+ were interviewed by telephone between February 9 and 16. Further details including tables of percentages are available at Harris Interactive's web site, www.harrisinteractive.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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