Public Opinion Isn’t Working

To many, democracy is a powerful word. It means that the majority opinion will usually win out in the political arena, as long as such a policy does not deprive those in the minority of individual rights. Usually, public opinion drives politicians as well as policy. Let’s look at the numbers:

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Opinion: 39% of Americans favor the use of increased nuclear power, while 52% oppose the measure. (Pew Charitable Trust)
Policy: A new nuclear power plant has not been built in the United States since 1973. (MSNBC)

Opinion: 49% of Americans favor the right to own a gun, while 46% are in favor of gun control laws. That figure is almost exactly the same as a September 2010 poll, which demonstrates little has changed, even after the recent shooting spree in Tucson, AZ. (Pew Charitable Trust)
Policy: States continue to be conflicted on gun control laws. 40 states have “right to carry” laws for guns which allow their citizens to carry concealed weapons. The states do however have varying restrictions. 4 states allow concealed carry with no restrictions, while the rest have varying levels of regulatory control. (NRA)

Opinion: 58% of Americans are opposed to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy and are in favor of openly gay men and women serving in the military. Only 27% are in favor of the policy.
Policy: On December, 22^nd, 2010, President Obama signed a bill repealing DADT.

There are many more examples of public opinion dictating policy change, but sometimes the majority doesn’t win out. Such is the case with merit pay initiatives for public school teachers. According to a September 2010 Time Magazine poll, 61% of respondents thought teachers were underpaid, 64% thought that at least part of teacher evaluations should be based on standardized test scores, 66% opposed tenure for public school teachers, and a booming 71% of those polled supported merit pay (Time Magazine). Despite the vast majorities in public opinion polling, few districts have instituted the practice. A recent report from the National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI), located at Vanderbilt, outlines the bleak numbers. According to the study, “merit pay plans for teachers have been implemented in no more than 500 school districts out of some 14,000 districts nationwide, only 3.5 percent of the total.” (Education Next)

The electorate is more in favor of merit pay than ending DADT, gun control or gun liberalization, and a moratorium on nuclear power plants. Politicians must listen to the overwhelming public opinion, align policy with populism, and push for merit pay provisions in future education reform bills.

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