Almond-Lippmann consensus

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Almond-Lippmann consensus states that public opinion:

  1. is volatile or fickle, thus dubious foundation upon which to base foreign policy
  2. lacks structure/coherence, so much so that many have described people as possessing non-attitudes
  3. is limited in its impact on foreign policy (because of 1 & 2) or at least should be limited in its impact

These conclusions were made shortly after World War II when public polling became a major tool for political scientists. Based on their data they decided that on a whole public opinion was not to be relied upon.

Later others would challenge and change this idea of public opinion.