民意與公共政策之間的關係，是一個令人好奇與值得研究的問題。在一個民主的社會裡，瞭解民意乃至於設法探詢民意，是政策制定過程中不可或缺的步驟。本文從探討何謂民意出發，羅列各種民意表達之方式，檢視其潛在的問題與限制，並建議以專業民調 (professional poll ) 與審慎思辯民調 (deliberative poll ) 來探詢更真實、更優質的民意，以避免公共政策受到少數的、被操控的、被誤導的民意所左右與宰制。在人類過去的歷史中，由於民意的展現存在有太多的限制與問題，因此，公共政策的制定應否完全以民意為依歸，就成了民主政治理論所關切與爭辯的問題。透過一些顯著的政策例子與知名政治家的風範，本文凸顯出民意與公共政策之間，絕不是、也不應該是雞生蛋的簡單因果關係。「民之所欲，長在我心」是民主政治的基本價值，但「民之所欲，常被操控」且「民之所欲，偶有問題」。後面這兩項命題，乍聽之下，十分逆耳，但卻是民主國家成熟公民對民意所應具有的基本認識，也是一流的政策分析師與決策者在政策制定過程中所不可忽略的重要原則。能具備政治智慧與道德勇氣，在政策制定過程中兼顧民意(public opinion)、民益 (public interest) 與民義 ( public justice)，是本文對政策分析師與決策者的深摯期許。

The relationship between public opinion and public policy is an intriguing and important research topic. In a democratic society, leaning and finding public opinion is indispensable in the process of policy formulation. This paper begins with a c1arificationof the concept of public opinion, lists all the methods of measurement, and examines the potential problems and limitations of these methods. In order to avoid the unduly influence on the policy-making process by the minor, manipulated, and distorted public opinion, this paper suggests using professional poll and deliberative poll to detect genuine and quality public opinion. In the history of mankind, due to various limitations and problems imposed by the measurement of public opinion, whether or not policymaking should totally depend upon public opinion has aroused concerns and debates in the development of democracy theory. By depicting a number of well-known policy examples and statesmen, this paper indicates that public opinion and public policy is not and should not be a simple chicken-and-egg causal relation. "Whatever people desire is always in my heart" has fundamental value in a democracy. However, public opinion is often manipulated and sometimes problematic. This later statement, though not very pleasant to hear, is essential and important to mature citizens, first-rate policy analysts and decision-makers in their perception and evaluation of public opinion. This paper sincerely expects our policy analysts and decision-makers have political wisdom and moral courage to make policy choices based on not only public opinion but also public interest and public justice.