7.5 Recommended Reading
Althaus, Scott L. 2003. Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. A study examining the ways in which public opinion surveys influence democratic deliberation in ways that favor particular groups in society.
Asher, Herbert B. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know, 7th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2007. A valuable guidebook providing insight into how polls are designed and reported.
Bennett, W. Lance, and David L. Paletz, eds. Taken By Storm: The Media, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. A comprehensive study of public opinion, media, and foreign policy focusing on the Gulf War period.
Brooker, Russell, and Todd Schaefer. Public Opinion in the 21st Century. New York: Wadsworth, 2005. An introductory text examining the ways in which Americans make their opinions known to political leaders.
Donsbach, Wolfgang, and Michael W. Traugott. The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2008. A handbook covering topics in public opinion ranging from the development of public opinion research, methods for ascertaining opinion, and uses of public opinion data.
Erikson, Robert S., and Kent L. Tedin, American Public Opinion, 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2011. A text covering key topics in public opinion, including the history of polling, methodological issues, and the role of public opinion in a democracy.
Glynn, Carroll J., Susan Herbst, Garrett J. O’Keefe, and Robert Y. Shapiro, Public Opinion. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. A comprehensive overview of public opinion in scholarship and practice.
Goidel, Kirby, ed. Political Polling in the Digital Age. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2011. A collection of essays about the challenges of public opinion polling in the new media era.
Herbst, Susan, Numbered Voices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. An insightful study of the development of consequences of public opinion polling that questions the extent to which polls truly represent the voices of the mass public.
Lippmann, Walter, Public Opinion. New York: Free Press, 1922. A classic work that explores the relationship between the press and public opinion, arguing that the media make events known to the public that they cannot directly experience, thereby influencing opinion.
Stroud, Natalie Jomini, Niche News. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. A detailed exploration of Americans’ growing preference for highly partisan news sources and its implications.
Warren, Kenneth F., In Defense of Public Opinion Polling. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003. An account of Americans’ love-hate relationship with polls, which includes a brief history of polling and a discussion of the use of polling in a democracy.
Zaller, John, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge, 1992. A study examining the ways in which the public acquires information from elites and the mass media and translates it into opinions.
