Public opinion surveys should be taken as important references in decision-making, says an article in Legal Daily. The following is an excerpt:

A recent on-line poll, which was conducted among 3,232 people by China Youth Daily, shows that the telecommunications industry swept its top four seats of the most unreasonable charges.

However, it seems that in China, more often than not, situations do not change much because of the results of such polls.

For a period of time, parts of the fees charged by telecom, education and other sectors have been constantly criticized as arbitrary in various polls. But every time the story ends at the polls, with nothing changing.

By contrast, in some other countries, even a decimal change in public opinion polls, especially in emergencies, weighs a lot to those in power.

Many problems and even social contradictions can be solved sooner if relevant polls are conducted and taken seriously.

Riots that occurred recently in Weng'an county of Guizhou province provide a painful lesson. The riots are believed to have been caused by the long neglect and mishandling of public sentiment by the local government. But the riots could have been avoided if a poll mechanism was in place, bridging the gap between local people and decision-makers. Proper measures might have been taken before things went bad.

(China Daily July 17, 2008)