The Influence Battle: Public Opinion vs Lobbying in American Politics

Name Institutional Affiliations Date Government and Politics Paper Between Public Opinion and Lobbyist, who has the most Political Influence? One can argue that both public opinion and lobbying play a significant role in shaping American politics, especially in areas relating to public policies. However, it is imperative to understand the meaning of each term and its effect on American politics to determine the weight of either term on American politics. According to Burstein (2003), public opinion represents the distribution of individual suggestions, preferences, and evaluations of a specific issue. Therefore, regarding politics, one can define public opinion as the citizens’ attitude, opinions, will, and recommendations about any political-related issues, leaders, and institutions. It is an approach that proves influential in American politics as it exerts its powers on political decisions through its latent aspects. The people's voice and reaction exert a powerful influence in opposing any unjustified or unsatisfactory decision or action by any public official or the government fostering change for public satisfaction. Public opinion is always regarded as the public's voice that is restricted to politics and thus can remain applicable in other pubic-related areas like culture, literature, and fashion. Public opinion is also not restricted to certain persons but rather open for the public to give out their thoughts and feelings on any public issue of interest. On the other hand, just like public opinion, lobbying is a legal activity that lobbyist engages in to enhance change in American politics and government. Lobbying pays close attention to policymaking, and its effects remain well defined in American governance. Bertrand et al. (2020) describes lobbying in America is