Understanding People's Voice on Democracy: A Study from Agency Areas of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

The foundational political philosophies beginning from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle till recent political scientists, although the philosophical foundations were different, predominantly stated that there must be deliberate democracy with ensuring the will of the people in the democratic process. Thus public opinion as a strong democratic element has a significant place in the discipline and practice as well. The study focused on understanding democracy through the approach of popular perceptions based on basic democratic premises. Essentially, an opinion is the position that stands as favourable, unfavourable, neutral, or undecided-in which people represent their view on a particular issue, government, policy, action, or leadership. Opinions are not facts but they are expressions of people's reactions or feelings about a specific political object. In general, political parties seek people's opinions before elections are held, but attitudes are persistent, wherein they can change in the same manner as the change in opinions. Intrinsically, attitudes often shape opinions or act as influential factors in shaping opinions (David L. Paletz et al., 2012). This is the central point to understanding the efficacy of people's voice in a democracy.