This book explores how public opinion is used to design monitor and evaluate government
programmes in Australia Canada New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Using information
collected from the media and from international practitioners in the public opinion field as
well as interviews in each of the 4 countries the author describes how views of public opinion
and governance differ significantly between elites and the general public. Bennett argues that
elites generally risk more by allowing the creation of new data fearing that its analysis may
become public and create communications and political problems of various kinds. The book finds
evidence that recent conservative governments in several countries are changing their
perspective on the use of public opinion and that conventional public opinion studies are
facing challenges from the availability of other kinds of information and new technologies.
This book is a hugely valuable contribution to a hitherto little explored field and will appeal
to academics and practitioners alike.
