Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Public Opinion


PUBLIC OPINION
by Antonio C. Antonio
September 9, 2014

An example of public opinion is the growing fear of ordinary citizens towards the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the many horror stories, experiences and opinions they have of the police.  In other countries, citizens breathe a sigh of relief when the police arrive in any emergency… in the Philippines, people get more worried, anxious and scared when the police appear.  While other countries are concerned about the police always arriving late at the crime scene, the Philippine crime scene is characterized with the presence of the police… sometimes they are the perpetrators of crimes.  The latest robbery-kidnapping case along EDSA which was caught on camera and posted on Facebook by a netizen is just one of these crimes involving police personnel.  To allay the growing distrust of people, the PNP assured the public that (a) the PNP is not a perfect organization although they are trying hard be true to their motto of “serve and protect”, (b) that there are indeed rogue elements (meaning: members of an organization who behave differently from other members; often causing damage or harm to the organization) in the PNP as in any other organization, and (c) there really is no cause for worry because the bad elements in their organization is ONLY 10%.  Oh my God!... this is an alarming piece of statistical data!  If the total number of policemen in the country is 157 thousand, there should be around 15,700 criminal cops on the streets trained in combat, skilled with martial arts to subdue people and equipped with firearms to kill if the situation calls for it.  Throw-in the twisted authority mindset that they have supreme prerogatives over life or death of civilians; we have a deadly recipe for mayhem (meaning: the crime of maliciously injuring or maiming someone, originally so as to render the victim defenseless).  Have said this, plus other maleficent deeds they are accused of ranging from “kotong” to robbery to kidnapping to drug dealing, it is not hard to understand why public opinion does not favor the police for now.

We often hear people talk about moulding public opinion as an essential part in whatever they are doing.  Public opinion is an important ingredient that gives impetus to public policies.  Public opinion is part of a political exercise to mould perceptions.  In a political exercise, however, perception is oftentimes more important than the truth as in electoral campaigns.  This is where advertising, media blitzing and political operators come in; as opposed to environmentalism, environmental advocacies and environmentalists/environmental advocates.

Public opinion is defined in various but related ways, such as: (a) An aggregate of the individual views, attitudes, and beliefs about a particular topic expressed by a significant proportion of the community; (b) A summation of public expression regarding a specific issue or event involving the population in general; (c) The predominant attitude of a community; (d) The collective will of a people; and, (e) Views prevalent among the general public.

In 1961, an American political scientist V. O. Key defined public opinion as “opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed”.  Earlier, however, in 1918, an American sociologist, Charles Horton Cooley theorized that public opinion is a product of a process of interaction and mutual influence rather than a substantial part of a society agreeing to one singular opinion.  Contemporary history, however, presented public opinion in a more structured, deliberate and scholarly manner.  The introduction of statistical analysis and a scientific procedure in gathering data elevated the determination of public opinion to a specific scientific study.  The collective view of a defined population can now be presented more intelligently to include demography… and doing away with speculations.

Public opinion is also a critical element in environmental advocacies and environmentalism.  But public opinion on environmental matters must be factual and largely understood… not perceptions, speculations or myths.  This is the actual challenge confronting environmentalists and environmental advocates.  Environmental issues and concerns are often treated as unimportant or mundane.  People have a tendency to ignore anything that they don’t “feel”… not like the felt fear they have for the policemen.  It may be worth considering that police criminality and brutality might pale in comparison to nature’s wrath.  Questions are: How many more natural calamities do we have to experience before we “feel” climate change?  How many more deaths do we have to witness before we “feel” anthropogenic pollution?  How much increase in average global temperature do we need before we “feel” global warming?  Is there really a need for these to happen before we are start increasing the level of environmental awareness?... of public opinion?

Just my little thoughts…

REFERENCES: (Keyword: Public Opinion / Police / Crime / News)


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