Often accused of being uninformed on important political issues, the general public is an easy target for cartoonists and commentators who like to depict it as an undefinable mass of people without a sense of direction. In Manipulation and Consent, David Elkins challenges this impression. While individual citizens may be ignorant on many matters, he contends they are well informed on a few specialized issues they deem important, comprising a multitude of informal 'issue publics' -- sets of people sharing a salient interest. In fact, the general public as a whole is much better informed and more politically sophisticated than it is normally given credit for.

David J. Elkins' profile page

David J. Elkins is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia.

A highly sophisticated exploration of voter motivations by an accomplished public opinion researcher ... the author has been imaginative in using his material; he has produced a study of some significance and considerable interest to students of public opinion, voting behavior, and political theory.

Choice, American Library Association

... provides a thoughtful analysis of related topics such as issue voting, election mandates, and strategic voting. Unlike many studies based on survey research, the book is accessible to the 'statistically challenged'. It can be highly recommended to those interested in public opinion, political behaviour, and democratic theory.

Canadian Book Review Annual

The power of this book is in its theoretical and empirical critique of those survey researchers in the political culture tradition who postulate a necessary aggregate level of citizen support for democracy to succeed.

American Political Science Review