Polling to Govern

Download or read book Polling to Govern written by Diane J. Heith and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presidents spend millions of dollars on public opinion polling while in office. Critics often point to this polling as evidence that a “permanent campaign” has taken over the White House at the expense of traditional governance. But has presidential polling truly changed the shape of presidential leadership? Diane J. Heith examines the polling practices of six presidential administrations—those of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton—dissecting the poll apparatus of each period. She contends that while White House polls significantly influence presidential messages and responses to events, they do not impact presidential decisions to the extent that observers often claim. Heith concludes that polling, and thus the campaign environment, exists in tandem with long-established governing strategies.