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A key driver in any democracy, public opinion determines who will govern and which policies will be likely to succeed. Contrary to general beliefs that public opinion is highly ephemeral, both practice and scientific evidence show that public opinion is a stable, measurable, and ultimately predictable phenomenon. To explore the issue both conceptually and in practice, the course will first offer a review and discussion of relevant literature on the subject and then analyze concrete case studies exploring the uses and misuses of public opinion and polling by political and policy stakeholders. Likely case studies will include primarily Latin American examples, such as the 2002 Lula election, but also extra-regional cases, such as the 2008 Obama election and the Arab Spring, among others. The final objective is to develop a critical eye when analyzing public policy and political problems.