The History Of Political Polling

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Political Polling’s origin in democratic communities

Poling in the United State of America is claimed to have started in 1932 by the man considered to be “the father of American Polling” George Gallup, who later founded the American Institute for Public Opinion. “The idea for Polling initially kick started when his mother-in-law ran for public office in Iowa. She was running against a popular incumbent, and everyone except him thought her candidacy was a lost cause. He polled her constituency, told her she could win, and gave her some advice”,ushistory.org (2008).

After Gallup, almost all presidents including the likes of Franklin Roosevelt started polling citizens. Polls became the major means used by presidents to gauge public opinion. This could be a result of the belief that presidents do not trust political parties, and the media therefore decide on polling privately instead of relying on institutions that engage in public opinion. …show more content…
For example, a candidate would ask, "How many people in my district know who I am and what I do?" Polls can give some answers, which can help a political candidate plan his/her campaign for office.
The pollsters then follow several important steps in gathering accurate statistics, ushistory.org (2008). Now that we know how political polls began with Mr. Gullup, what are the types of polling that are

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