Imp’s Reviews > Public Opinion > Status Update

Enough for the township -> enough for any purpose

Men formed pictures of outside from pictures in their heads, cultivated by stereotypes nurtured by the community.

No way of gathering info -> democratic theory falls back to wisdom and experience of the voter.
"Only real disagreement could be the judgment of the same facts"
Could assume homogeneous code of morals
Takes supply of information for granted

Jefferson's democratic ideal: ideal environment + selected class

Became political gospel for all politics, not just special environments.
In Jefferson's age, all public opinion was spontaneous and subjective, this had to be considered.
Security seen as necessary for Democracy
Dangerous crises incompatible with
--> efforts to enclose part of the earth's surface: "democratic wars"

Assumed men have equal competence

Democratic philosophers were aware of the limitations of knowledge, found home in remote, unspoiled country villages.

de Tocqueville: doctrine of Popular Sovereignty nurtured in the townships took possession of the State in the American Revolution

Jefferson: These ideal communities must be fenced off from the rest of the world.

THE SELF-CONTAINED COMMUNITY

Ideally just pattern of rights and duties -> everyone obeys then opinions don't matter
All systems assume an established harmony.

Other philosophers took conflict for granted: Machiavelli
Worse name and more disciples than anyone else.

"Men judge more by the eye than by the hand"
People whose vision can't be corrected

THE SELF-CENTERED MAN
Not much science on Public Opinion.

Working out of realistic opinion takes a lot of effort, needs great justification for support.

Every political theory has an inscrutable element going unexamined in its heyday. In Democracy this is Popular Sovereignty.
Assertion of human dignity, which analysis seemed to degrade. Democrats had to insist man is legislator by nature, like Aristotle's slave.

Trying to meet popular feeling while mending fences & consolidating position by addressing an issue or placating a group.

Creation of consent improved tremendously with Democracy, became more scientific.
Intuition and rules of thumb cannot be relied upon, knowledge needed for management of affairs doesn't come up spontaneously from the human heart.

Foreign affairs -> unseen environment

Leaders pretending they uncovered a program existing in the minds of the public
Not news, but news with an aura of suggestion about it

1. Leader vocalizes prevalent attitude of the mass to gather attention & support
2. The policy might have nothing to do with it

Trusted men using accepted symbols go a long way

Good leaders also seek a measure of consent

LEADERS AND THE RANK AND FILE

Leaders cultivate symbols which conserve unity.
Bagehot: "Our royalty is to be reverenced"
Symbol: Mechanism for solidarity & exploitation

Manipulation of masses via symbols often only way for quick mass action.
Often an action would fail if everyone understood it.

Limit of endurance
Indirect effects -> leader has a free hand

No common idea emerges from private notions
Organization is needed
"Pantomime in reverie" - reaction to impressions of invisible world is no practical issue

People who say Yes may have different, contradictory reasons for doing so.

Proposals to curb steering committee merely postpone or obscure the need for a machine. Creating an issue voters can say Yes or No to.

"The Many can elect after the Few have nominated."

Symbols are useful and powerful. Symbols are employed in speeches and publications.
The words must be spoken by the right people at the right time.

"Phrases equally noble, true, and almost reversible"

How symbols take root in minds: Beloved/authoritative persons. Positions of authority are contextual

Distinction b/w members and rank & file: Not tied by common conviction
Distance enhances view of mass cooperation