POLPOP is a cross-national project that studies how politicians evaluate public opinion. Every three-to-four years, POLPOP researchers conduct a face-to-face survey of full-time politicians, and online surveys of representative samples of citizens in participating countries. Data from these surveys are used to analyse the accuracy of politicians’ perceptions of public opinion, and the congruence between politicians and citizens’ views.
Each iteration of the project has a slightly different focus. While POLPOP I focuses on the accuracy of politicians’ estimates of public opinion, POLPOP II centred on understanding which signals politicians paid most attention to. The fieldwork for POLPOP III is being conducted in 2025 and will explore politicians’ perceptions of the malleability of public opinion and how politicians evaluate signals of public opinion differently depending on their tone and source.
