THE POLITICAL EDUCATION OF JOHN ZALLER

Abstract

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (1992) provided both a powerful framework for analyzing public opinion and a highly influential account of the role of political elites in shaping public opinion. Zaller's subsequent work has focused less on the mechanics of opinion change than on the role of public opinion in the broader political process. This evolution has entailed sustained attention to V. O. Key, Jr.'s concept of “latent opinion”—the opinion politicians are likely to face in the next election, as distinct from what is currently measureable in surveys. It has also entailed a downgrading of the importance attached to Media Politics—“the attempt to govern on the basis of words and images that diffuse through the mass media”—relative to Party Politics—“the substance of party performance.” In recent work, Zaller and his colleagues have emphasized the key role of interest groups and activists in shaping parties' policy choices, largely free of effective constraint by the mass public. This work provides a rather more pessimistic take on “The Question of Elite Domination of Public Opinion” than does the epilogue to The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.