Public Opinion of the Police in 1930s America: A Qualitative Historiographical Study

Willard M Oliver

doi:10.21428/88de04a1.190647bb

Abstract

Public opinion polls largely developed post-WWII and questions about the police did not appear until the late 1960s. Since then, over 100+ studies have assessed the modern-day public opinion of the police, but none have looked to public opinion from an earlier time period. This study uses a qualitative historiographical approach for assessing public opinion of the police in the 1930s by drawing on the primary source of a letter exchange between two of that eras greatest pulp writers: Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. Findings suggest similarities between the 1930s and present day public opinion of the police.

Highlights

Public opinion polls began at least as early as 1824 when The Harrisburg Pennsylvanian surveyed locals about who was most likely to win the presidential election that year and The Literary Digest successfully predicted the presidential victories of Harding (1920), Coolidge (1924), Hoover (1928) and Roosevelt (1932), scientific polling did not come about until 1936 (Hillygus, 2011; T. Smith, 1990)
Public opinion polls largely developed post-WWII and questions about the police did not appear until the late 1960s
Over 100+ studies have assessed the modern-day public opinion of the police, but none have looked to public opinion from an earlier time period

Summary

Introduction

Public opinion polls began at least as early as 1824 when The Harrisburg Pennsylvanian surveyed locals about who was most likely to win the presidential election that year and The Literary Digest successfully predicted the presidential victories of Harding (1920), Coolidge (1924), Hoover (1928) and Roosevelt (1932), scientific polling did not come about until 1936 (Hillygus, 2011; T. Smith, 1990). Public opinion polls began at least as early as 1824 when The Harrisburg Pennsylvanian surveyed locals about who was most likely to win the presidential election that year and The Literary Digest successfully predicted the presidential victories of Harding (1920), Coolidge (1924), Hoover (1928) and Roosevelt (1932), scientific polling did not come about until 1936 These early scientific polls, mostly by Gallup and Roper, were problematic due to poor sampling techniques, but by the 1960s, they had become a staple of American life (Converse, 2009; Hogan, 2009; Mayer, 1993; Moon, 1999; Page & Shapiro, 1992). Gallup began asking Americans to rate the honesty and ethical standards of police, while the General Social Survey, through the National Opinion Research Center, asked citizens about police use of force

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Conclusion