Public opinion is formed both by relatively permanent circumstances and by temporary influences. Among the former are the ideas that characterize the popular culture of a given place at a given time. Permanent circumstances, like race, religion, economic status, geographical location and educational level can strongly influence the opinions of an individual or a particular group about many subjects. Certain temporary factors also affect the public's attitudes.
Among these are the impact of current events, the opinions of influential or authoritative persons, the effect of the mass communication and the concerted campaigns of public relations professionals. Public Opinion may be defined as, "Attitudes, perspectives and preferences of a population towards events, circumstances and issues of mutual interest". Public opinion plays an important role in the working of the democratic system as the truly democratic systems are formed with the support of the people and they follow the famous definition, "Government of the people, for the people and by the people."
In the modern states of the world the governments and political institutions always have a close look at the public opinion and variations in it after major policies and political changes and they use the same to guarantee their success and effectiveness of their policies. Moreover, the best use of public opinion comes at the time before the elections and mostly makes the political parties take important decisions before the elections are finalized.
It is difficult to say what public opinion is as it is not possible that all the citizens in a society should have coherent and unanimous opinion regarding the changes and realities and socio-political life of the society. It, at the same time, is not necessarily the opinion of the majority as there are possibilities that majority may promote its own interests and may neglect the interests of the minority. In true sense public opinion is the considered opinion of an effective majority of citizens based on the ideal of general well-being and progress of the community as a whole.
Public opinion is gauged through the public polls. The systematic measurement of public attitudes was a 20th-century development.
Although occasionally, polls were conducted before the 1930s, they were generally neither systematic nor scientific. Since 1948 techniques of public opinion research and polling have improved considerably. Efforts are now made to select respondents without bias, to improve the quality of questionnaires and to train able and reliable interviewers.
Opinion polls are generally accepted as useful tools by business, the mass media, government and academic research, beside the political organizations. In business, polls are used to test consumers' preferences and to discover what it is about a product that gives it appeal. Response to commercial polls aid in planning marketing and advertising strategies and in making changes in a product to increase its sales.
In politics, polls are used to obtain information about voters' attitudes toward issues and candidates, to put forward candidates with winning potential, and to plan campaigns. Polling organizations have also been successful in predicting the outcome of elections. In addition, by polling voters on election day, it is often possible to determine the probable winner even before the voting booths close.
Newspapers, magazines, radio and television are heavy users of public opinion polling information, especially political information that helps to predict elections or gauge the popularity of government officials and candidates. The public's attitude toward various social, economic and international issues is also considered newsworthy. On the other hand governments use opinion polls to tap public sentiment about issues of national interest. In addition, government agencies use polling methodology to determine unemployment rates, crime rates and other social and economic indicators.
There are different agencies within the societies that mould and shape the public opinion. Some of them are;
(1) The press – it is regarded as one of the most forceful agencies which mould the public opinion. It includes all the daily newspapers, fortnightlies, monthlies, periodicals and other published material. They not only place before the public the facts about various social, political and other activities going on at the national as well as international levels but also make suggestions for improvements.
(2) Educational Institutions – Educational institutions like schools, colleges, study circles, debating societies and universities exert tremendous influence on the formulation of the public opinion. These institutions play an important role in developing the qualities of independent thinking among young people.
(3) Radio, TV and Cinema – They not only keep the people informed about the various important happenings but also arrange periodical talks by experts on various problems of topical interest and many programs that address the social, political, economic and other problems of the people and suggest them the ways to deal with them.
(4) Political Parties – they play no less significant role in the formation of the public opinion. They focus the attention of the people on the important issues facing the country with a view to win fresh adherents to their point of view. In the process they not only help the people to acquire firsthand information about the various public issues but also provide them to take interest in those affairs.