Quantifying the American Mind: George Gallup, and the Promise of Political Polling
New Books in Intellectual History
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Shifts in Polling: The Rise of Gallup
This chapter chronicles the transformation of political polling through the lens of The Literary Digest and George Gallup’s innovative methods. It examines the failures of Literary Digest's polling during the 1936 election, which misjudged Franklin D. Roosevelt’s support, and contrasts this with Gallup's scientifically grounded approaches to survey methodology. The narrative underscores the evolution of polling as a vital democratic tool, establishing Gallup’s significance in the field and the shift it represented in capturing public opinion.
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