Political Observer.

stephenkmacksd.com/

Jan 31, 2025

Headline:How popular is Donald Trump?

Last updated on January 29th 2025

FEW FIGURES have loomed as large in American political life as Donald Trump. Even out of office, the celebrity-turned-president has had an extraordinary capacity to set the political agenda, move popular sentiment and polarise Americans. Mr Trump’s return to power has underscored all this. But he is not impervious to public opinion. His second term will be shaped, and constrained, by the views and priorities of ordinary Americans. On this page, The Economist is tracking their opinions week to week, throughout his presidency.

Every week YouGov, an online pollster, asks 1,500 American adults how they feel about a range of topics. We have collated their responses to these surveys since 2009, including the latest data on the most pressing political issues—from immigration and the state of the economy to gun control and health care. The result is a snapshot of Americans’ shifting views on their politics and society over the past 16 years.

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Editor: Influence Watch supplies some enlightening information about the relationship with clients, and their particular needs, and the YouGov’s ‘points systems’ (see the italicised portions below).

YouGov is a British polling company founded in 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi. YouGov has 20 million members worldwide whom it surveys, along with 1,600 employees across 39 offices. ¹

YouGov claims to be non-partisan. It is often accused of displaying bias toward the U.K. Conservative Party due to its founders’ associations with the party, but the company has had high-level figures who have supported the British Labour Party, ² and the firm worked with the left-of-center Voters’ Right To Know coalition. ³

YouGov creates and conducts polls for its clients around the world. YouGov attracts poll takers by distributing “points” which can be redeemed for cash and gift cards. Select poll takers can join YouGov Pulse as “panelists” for additional points. ⁴

While most polling companies survey random individuals to avoid selection bias, YouGov’s polling model is based on tracking the shifting of preferences of the same individuals over time. YouGov’s panelists are used repeatedly for polls, and polling data is correlated with a large amount of political and non-political information surveyed from these panelists. ⁵

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Editor: Here is a link to ‘Influence Watch’ sight:

Editor: The reader might well speculate on the economic relationship of YouGov’s ‘points systems’ to The Economist! Or the fact that YouGov poles the same indivituals over time. Where might these repedative practices lead: in terms of questions asked that could be skewed to meet the political needs of Clients. Even given this assurence of ‘polling data is correlated with a large amount of political and non-political information surveyed from these panelists. ⁵ To call the relationship between The Economist and YouGov symbiotic is hardley an exageration !

Political Observer.