Overview

The book contains results from opinion polls around the world, in total more than 50 countries. As the world becomes more integrated, political and social challenges have become increasingly global, pointing to a greater need for understanding between nations and for finding global trends. Understanding public opinion is integral to modern democracies around the world. It shapes public policies; it helps politicians to connect with their audiences; it reveals underlying issues that are of utmost importance for decision-makers. The initiative for this book has come from TNS Political and Social, a world leader in providing political and social information. TNS provides insights into public opinion, covers elections and analyzes other political, social and economic issues, in more than 70 co- tries. Each year TNS conducts millions of interviews for clients to understand how the public is thinking or reacting to major issues on a national or international scale. This unique position on the inter- tional market has enabled us to conceive and produce this book. I hope this book will find a big audience. Public opinion polling is a powerful tool in the world of today and we need a thorough disc- sion of its role and its potential in politics and society at large. The following chapters explore and develop this idea.