Governance of public opinion: The effect of the public opinion education in Turkey to governance of public opinion

Today, the role of public opinion in government functions is very important. When the procedure becomes transparent in public sector, the governed people can understand the whole mechanism of it and they can influence it. Public opinion, which can be described as the common opinion and attitude of particular groups in any issue, can be seen in media, elections, politicial parties and in surveys.The outcome of the governance is revised by the particular criteria and necessary precautions are taken to reach the intended target. All these functions are considered in governance function. The governance of public opinion is one of the methods of the governance of public administration. The governance of public opinion is more effective in liberal and democratic regimes. In our country, the legal atmosphere, in which the development of public opinion is formed, begins with the 1982 constitution and it is developed with Public Financial Management and Control Law, Rigt to Information Act, The Law on The Right to Petition, Municipal Code and The Law on Special Provincial Administration.The legal regulations are not enough in order to make the governance of public opinion effective. Citizens' knowledge of their rights, media's observation of the public interest and effectiveness of civil society organizations and giving education that will contribute to public opinion governance are also necessary.In this work, a survey has applied to the students of the first and fourth year in order to understand whether they recognize the public governance tools. The result of this survey shows us that there is no difference between the students who take public administration education and who don't take it in awareness of the presence of public opinion tools, whether these are founded as meaningful and whether these are applied to their behaviour or not.Key words:1.Public opinion2.Governance3.Public opinion governance4.Public administration education