Theory Of Public Opinion Guidance

Guidance of public opinion is not only the most discussed issues among many disciplines, but also the central topic of ideological and propaganda practice.Studying on the guidance of public opinion under the contemporary social circumstances in China can not only foster relative researches on the guidance of public opinion and on the innovation of ideological and political education, but also make sense for the construction of socialism ideology, the great prosperity of socialism culture and the improvement of public opinion environment of socialism modernization. This thesis is based on the perspective of ideological and political education and focuses on the essence, theoretical evidence, factors, working model, methodology and way of improvement about the guidance of public opinion with the help of various methods, such as the research of literature, the quantitative study, the comparative study and systematic study, etc.The essence of public opinion can be summarized as the interests, believes, emotions and values of related social issues which belong to the public. However, the guidance of public opinion is the practice of helping the public to form the appropriate consensus on public interest, social believes, social emotions and values which is usually launched by certain party, community, group or individuals. And it is characterized by guidance, regulation, interaction and artistic quality.The theoretical resources of the guidance of public opinion contain the relative accomplishments of Marxist and other western theories. The guidance of public opinion has been formed and practiced by Marxist. For instance, the theory of public opinion by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the theory of guiding the public opinion with party newspaper and the theory of public opinion guidance by CPC, consist of the guiding thoughts of public opinion guidance. In addition, other western theories have also brought enlightenments, such as the theory of communication effect, the theory of poll and the theory of public opinion management, etc.The contemporary circumstances of the guidance of public opinion are all about dealing with the difficulties of public opinion guidance in order to grasp the opportunities to foster its development. In reality, the difficulties of public opinion guidance should be summarized as the contradiction between the univariate and the multivariate; the conflict between nationalism and internationalism; the confusion between reality and illusion and the war between truth and art. However, those opportunities with which the development of public opinion guidance would be better off can be noted among the conflicts mentioned above.While studying on the factors of public opinion guidance, the subject, object, content, medium of communication and effect should be closely analyzed. According to the research paradigm of communication, the factors of public opinion guidance include the analysis of public sentiment, the agenda setting, the communication strategy and the acceptance of agenda. To be specific, the analysis of public sentiment contains the acquirement and study on the public sentiment; the agenda setting contains the active selecting and proper setting of agenda, meanwhile, the design of communication, the way of guidance and the art of agenda adjustment constitute the communication strategy of public opinion guidance. What’s more, the acceptance of agenda includes the depth and width of acceptance.The working model of public opinion guidance means the reflection of regulation which controls the way of working of the factors related to the guidance of public opinion. To meet that end, it is necessary to acquire the leadership of public opinion and ideology; to unify the value criterion of information censorship; to better the institutions of the guidance of public opinion. Meanwhile, it is of great importance to improve the monitor institutions of public opinion guidance by establishing the public sentiment monitoring system, strengthening the censorship of cyberspace public sentiment and monitoring the distribution of public sentiment. Furthermore, it is needed to promote the early warning system of public opinion guidance with the help of setting early warning levels of public sentiment; discovering the central events of public sentiment; coping with the social problems timely and taking measures of public opinion guidance. What’s more, in order to establish the feedback institution of public opinion guidance, it is important to form the assessment criterion and manipulate the process of public opinion guidance. Finally, to strengthen the accountability of public opinion guidance, it is necessary to emphasize the accountability of the voiceless, the untrue and the improper.The carrier of public opinion guidance contains mass media, emerging media, social activities and oral communication. The mass media includes newspaper, magazines, books, radio, TV and films; and the emerging media means We-media which contains well-known websites, BBS, blogs and microblogs. In addition, the carrier of social activities includes conferences, masses activities and cultural activities; and the carrier of oral communication is about the folk rhyme and popular sayings in the cyberspace. Therefore, the methods of public opinion should be authoritative information guidance, policy explanation, emotional guidance, image building of government and cultural infection.The promotion of public opinion guidance has close connection with the leaders, working staffs and embracers of public opinion guidance. For the leaders, their ability of balancing the interest conflicts, setting agenda actively, fostering the mutual communication, monitoring the emerging media and understanding the demand of the public should be strengthened. For the working staffs, their ability of information exchange, agenda assessment should also be emphasized. For the embracers, their ability of involvement, presentation and acceptance should be improved as well.