Constructing public opinion : how political elites do what they like and why we seem to go along with it / Justin Lewis.

New York : Columbia University Press, [2001], ©2001.

xiv, 250 pages ; 24 cm

Why numbers matter and why we should be suspicious of them -- Who's in and who's out: public opinion polls as a cultural form -- Suppressing dissent: the media representation of public opinion -- Getting the right response? media influence on public opinion -- What are opinions and where do they come from? -- The ideology of assumptions -- Flickering the embers of consent: public opinion and the military industrial complex -- Selling unrepresentative democracy -- Conclusion: hegemony and its discontents.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-234) and index.