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A new ComRes for ITV News at Ten tonight shows that there has been a surge in positivity surrounding the Olympic Games compared with just a fortnight ago. Now more than half of the population (52%) are excited about London 2012, compared to a third (34%) who were excited two weeks ago. Younger people aged 18 to 34 are the most excited age group (57%) while those in Scotland (42%) and the South West (42%) are the least excited of…

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Do governments of host countries get an Olympic boost? Since ancient times, rulers have used festivals and games as distractions for the masses; an entertained populace is likely to be a content one, or at least a more content one than it would otherwise have been. Does this feed through to a government’s re-election chances? Surprisingly, it seems it might do. In the 116-year history of the modern Olympic games, only three have been held in wholly non-democratic countries: Berlin…

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