Essay On One Or More Assessment Answer

Write essay on one or more current affairs situations and and critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of these definitions and arguments.

Introduction

Public opinion includes the thinking, desires and wants of the people of a particular community. It is considered to be the collective opinion of the people or the state or the society and thus helps in solving an issue or a problem. The concept of public opinion is related with the concept of urbanization and the other social and political factors that play an important role in the society. It can be said that the concept of public opinion can be considered to be linked to the thoughts of the people and thus it helps in changing the public contention. The term public opinion was first coined by Jean Jacques Rousseau, the New Heloise or Julie in 1761.  This term is considered to be a French word and it was first used by Michel de Montaigne in 1588. It can be said that public opinion emerged as a significant factor in the political ground and thus it has been debated in the late 17th century. It can be said that there are different views on the role and use of public opinion and thus it can help in forming diverse opinions (McCombs 2017). According to Winston Churchill, it has been said that there is no such other valuable thing like public opinion. This is only considered to be published opinion. On the other hand, according to Abraham Lincoln, public opinion is considered everything in a particular country. This paper will highlight the role of public opinion and it will analyse the strength and weakness of public opinion. This will also be shown in reference to the current situation and thus this new story will be beneficial in illustrating the concept of public opinion 

Discussion

It can be said that in a modern society, public opinion forms the crux of policy or ant form of legislation in hand. The role played by public opinion is considered to be important for the democratic societies and it is prevalent in all societies despite the varied degree of authoritarianism. It can be said that public opinion changes the policy through different kind of passive observations and thus it helps the citizens of a particular country. This is considered to be an important part of democracy because the ultimate source of power lies in the hands of the people. The government officials are assigned with the role to take important decisions on public opinion and thus they have to decide the future course of action in such case. The political parties at different level try to maintain a positive degree of public opinion and thus this are subjected to certain degree of measure so that it becomes easier for manipulation through the different forms of mass media and other sources (Nip 2017). 
It is necessary to understand the role of some factors that plays an important role in shaping public opinion. These include education, social class, gender, age and other ethnic groups. It can be said that society is not considered to be a homogenous group and thus they are made up of several components. Each of these components has several challenges and functions and therefore the members of different countries view these components in a different way. According to the report published in the Hill (2018), it has been found that as the Russian investigation policy begins to accelerate, the national agenda has undergone changes and thus it needs special investigation that will help in concluding the crimes in Russia. There have been several crimes that re linked with the Russian presidential election of 2016.  According to this report, there has to much bigger shifts in public opinion and public agenda that is considered to be strict in certain cases.  It is vital to withhold the judgement of Trump-Russia story and thus find out the desired conclusion. On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider the findings of Mueller and that plays an important role in outsizing the election of 2018. It has been found that after conducting the survey, 64% of the registered voters were considered to be less in taking part in the election process if Mueller produced or had done some criminal activities (Thehill.com. 2018). 
It is also necessary to take the evidence of the large illegal activities that has taken place in Russia. This is considered to be a major debate for all countries and thus it has depicted how to safeguard and protect the democracy against the foreign supervision. It can be said that this evidence of Russia has helped in the creation of fake social media accounts and there has been potential misuse of this accounts. On the other hand, the reform minded leaders helped in addressing the weakness and thus played a vital role in shaping the political culture. The emerging scandals has also helped in underscoring the need of public opinion and thus it has helped in finding out more resolute set of policies towards the other regimes of Russia and thus undermine the importance of democracy in such cases. There must be mutual support among the individuals who are taking part in the election process  and therefore it can be said that public opinion is considered to be a sweeping agent for democracy and this is considered to be true in case of Mueller’s findings (Thehill.com 2018) . 

It can be said that public opinion is considered to be foundation for every form of democracy. The sovereignty of the people is considered to be the basis of democracy and thus this has played an important role in shaping public opinion. It can be said that in every form of government, the policies of the government are constantly altered on the basis of public opinion. On the other hand, public opinion is also considered to be an effective control for the government because the government is responsible for the public opinion. Moreover, public opinion also determines the election results. In every political party, it can be said that a majority party wins in favour of public opinion and thus rules the government. It is also considered to be a major source of law for every nation. These laws are considered to be surpassed from one government to the other and they are based on facts and demands that are backed by public opinion. It is also considered to be the guardian of rights and freedom in different countries and thus helps in safeguarding the freedom and the violation of rights of the individual (Gelpi 2017).
It can be said that public opinion raises government awareness and thus helps in giving concerns on the laws after different types of events in the society. The government of any country is answerable to the issues and concerns raised by the public of that particular country. On the other hand, it can be said that public opinion also influences the media agent and thus it helps in talking further actions for the society. The members of any press have the right to criticise the government policy or to bring any types of issue into discussion in such cases. However, it can be said that public opinion has some disadvantages such as it cannot be manipulated and thus media helps in the creation of public opinion. On the other hand, the government of any particular country can respond quickly to the changes of public opinion and thus this is considered to be a dangerous act for the society.  Moreover, people can also resort to criminal behaviour and thus promote their cause and this is considered to be one of the most important demerits of public opinion (Anstead and O'Loughlin 2015). 
Public opinion has also set the pace for different kinds of reforms and it is necessary to overcome the frustration of these reforms and thus prepare a proper timetable so that the correct actions can be taken at the correct time. There have been differences in the quality of opinion among the people and thus it is the responsibility of the state or the government to focus on such issues. It is necessary to consider the different changes that are underlying in the public opinion and this process is taking place across generations in the society. It is necessary for the state to take care of the aged and the elderly people and thus it is necessary to take care of the poor and the needy people who are unable to take care of themselves and thus seeks help from the society (Nip 2017).

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be said that there has been varied number of philosophical arguments in view of public opinion and this theories are presented in such a way that it help in shaping the society as well as lay effect on the different types of empirical methods. There have been casual relationships that are considered to be applicable in both directions and thus public policy plays a vital role in such case. Therefore, social policies lays impact on public opinion. 

References

McCombs, M., 2017. Contemporary public opinion: Issues and the news. Routledge.
Anstead, N. and O'Loughlin, B., 2015. Social media analysis and public opinion: The 2010 UK general election. Journal of Computer?Mediated Communication, 20(2), pp.204-220.
Gelpi, C., 2017. Democracies in Conflict: The Role of Public Opinion, Political Parties, and the Press in Shaping Security Policy. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 61(9), pp.1925-1949.
Thehill.com. 2018. The hill. [online] Available at: http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/380041-the-need-for-a-sweeping-agenda-for-democratic-security [Accessed 31 Mar. 2018].
Nip, J.Y., 2017, June. The nature of public opinion on social media in China. The 15th Chinese Internet Research Conference:" Divergence and Convergence in China's Internets".