Public Opinion Theories

Utilitarian Theories

An early optimistic view was offered by Jean-Jacques Rousseau who championed the notion of a common will arising out of reasoned debate and serving as a powerful means of checking government actions. Similar notions concerning the merits of public debate were offered by early libertarian thinkers such as John Milton. British utilitarian philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham offered the first systematic argument favoring democratic government grounded on public opinion. They argued in favor of the creation of a political system in which individuals and groups competed to pursue their economic and political interests. Unlike Rousseau, they had no faith in reasoned debate as a mechanism for harmonizing interests. Instead, they argued that unfettered competition to pursue interests would best serve the majority of people. This competition would take place in a marketplace of ideas in which various interests were promoted and majority views were formed. Ultimately, these views should result in the choice and election of politicians who would serve majority interests.

Mass Society Theories

By the end of the 19th century and through the first half of the 20th century, optimism concerning public opinion and democratic government faded. Enlightenment faith in public opinion was challenged by a darker view of human nature and its limitations. A set of mass society theories were developed by conservative thinkers such as Ferdinand Tönnies, Gustave Le Bon, and Jose Ortega y Gasset and radical thinkers such as Marxists associated with the Frankfurt School that questioned whether public opinion and majority rule could provide a viable basis for government. At the heart of these more radical theories was deep pessimism concerning common people and their ability to recognize their interests and make reasoned political choices. Instead, the public was seen as a disorganized, undifferentiated, and ignorant mass. This mass was easily ruled by unscrupulous, demagogic elites who would manipulate public opinion to serve elite interests.

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