Public Opinion Polling in a Globalized World [Paperback]

Understanding public opinion is integral to modern democracies. Social research and opinion polls give people the opportunity to express their views and provide an efficient way to measure public opinion. This book illustrates how public opinion polling matters in politics, in the public sphere, and more generally in globalized economies. It presents results from opinion polls in more than 30 countries, especially 12 in-depth case studies from various countries around the world.

The book contains results from opinion polls around the world, in total more than 50 countries. As the world becomes more integrated, political and social challenges have become increasingly global, pointing to a greater need for understanding between nations and for finding global trends. Understanding public opinion is integral to modern democracies around the world. It shapes public policies; it helps politicians to connect with their audiences; it reveals underlying issues that are of utmost importance for decision-makers. The initiative for this book has come from TNS Political and Social, a world leader in providing political and social information. TNS provides insights into public opinion, covers elections and analyzes other political, social and economic issues, in more than 70 co- tries. Each year TNS conducts millions of interviews for clients to understand how the public is thinking or reacting to major issues on a national or international scale. This unique position on the inter- tional market has enabled us to conceive and produce this book. I hope this book will find a big audience. Public opinion polling is a powerful tool in the world of today and we need a thorough disc- sion of its role and its potential in politics and society at large. The following chapters explore and develop this idea.International Polls.- The Effects of Globalisation on the Perception of Democracy.- Transatlantic Trends: Convergences and Divergences.- A Europe of Values: From Sharel³’