Polling is not only problematic in determination of how the public will actually respond to the real proposals, but is often opinion based on extremely poor understanding of issues and little thought. A recent polls by the California Public Policy Institute prompted me to go to their web-site where I discover that half of the respondents didn't know who the governor was. If you believe that policy derived from informed, thoughtful deliberation is superior to that formed by vague understanding and sound-bite politics, consider the model of "Deliberative Polling."
This concept is described by James S. Fishkin in his book "Democracy and Deliberation." It is essentially a melding of the statistical methodologies of polling in selecting the sample group with the opportunity for that group to engage in a process of deliberation before deciding. It aims to produce a representation of what the country's citizens would feel if they took the time to truly understand an issue. It's principles were actually used preceding the 1992 election as the "National Issues Forum" televised by PBS. I think that process' connection with the candidates and too many issues undermined its effectiveness. But I believe Social Security would be an ideal subject for such a process.
Although this online discussion group has many well-informed participants, we are a self-selected group. In a democracy, we have to struggle with what constitutes a legitimate reflection of our citizens. Elected representative government is hardly held is high regard by the populace. They are highly suspicious that the process is distorted by undue influence of money and special interests. Deliberative polling would be a useful way for establishing a public perception of the legitimacy of policy decisions. Is there anyone who might know of a funding source for such a project? Is this something that ADSS would be interested in pursuing?
