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Public Opinion Among Political Elites: The “Insiders Poll” as a Research Tool

Abstract The linkages between political elites and their ostensible rank and files are central concerns of democratic theory, and central considerations in the empirical analysis of democratic politics. Yet in a world of burgeoning surveys of public opinion generally, there remains a desperate shortage of ways to tap the opinion of national elites. This piece (re)introduces political scientists and practicing journalists to one device for adding elite opinions to their tool-kits, by way of the Insiders Polls that were created and sustained within National Journal, a magazine of political analysis. Examples are offered of major differences between partisan elites, of concerns where experience trumps partisanship in shaping elite opinion, of the use of these Polls in following both electoral campaigns and conflicts over public policy.