  478. THE NATURE OF PUBLIC OPINION.—One of the most powerful influences in any community is that intangible something which we call Public Opinion. Though everyone is familiar with it, the term Public Opinion is difficult to define. Public Opinion is intimately connected with the opinion of the individual, and yet is something more than a mere total of individual opinions. Every man has a set of opinions or beliefs which are characteristic of his native instincts, his home training, and other influences which have helped mould his personality. Wherever individuals associate, the opinions of each person affect and are affected by the opinions of his fellows. As the result of this interaction we think of public opinion as being made up of a number of different currents, each embodying a view, a belief, or a doctrine. Where many individuals support a given view with moderate intensity, or where a small group feels very intensely upon a given topic, we say that Public Opinion has formed. Public Opinion may be defined as a definite focus of individual opinions which are either numerous or intense enough to constitute a recognizable force, and to exert a noticeable influence upon the life of the community. 479. PUBLIC OPINION AND LAW.—It is characteristic of the human mind that we perceive concrete and tangible things more easily than we understand abstract and intangible forces. Law is a definite, concrete, almost tangible thing; we perceive its outlines, recognize its various forms, and understand its nature and significance. But it is less easy to understand that law may be only a symptom of Public Opinion, only the concrete expression of intangible community sentiment. There is an interaction between law and Public Opinion, but the latter is the more fundamental and the more powerful. Public Opinion which is vigorous and well-organized may force the enactment of law; on the other hand, a law which runs counter to the prevailing state of Public Opinion may cease to be effective, because individuals will not coÖperate in enforcing it. Law half leads, half follows Public Opinion, and when legislators are skilled in discerning and influencing the mental attitudes of the people, law and Public Opinion pretty well keep pace with one another. 480. PUBLIC OPINION IN A DEMOCRACY.—The beliefs and opinions of the masses have been an important force even in the most absolute of monarchies; in representative democracies Public Opinion is even more important. Under a democratic form of government the attitude of the masses tends to be one of inquiry, self-confidence, and self- expression upon public questions. Lord Bryce has pointed out that because democracy permits and encourages freedom of discussion, Public Opinion in a country like the United States becomes much more powerful than in less democratic countries. And not only is Public Opinion more powerful in a democracy, but democracy is impossible without the regular exercise of a well- informed and sensible opinion by the majority of its citizens. Democracy emphasizes government by the people rather than government of the people. Thus if genuine democracy is to be developed and sustained, the people must cultivate an attitude of constant vigilance against civic indifference. Nominations and elections are focal periods in government, but government is a continuous obligation which requires constant rather than intermittent attention. Where civic interest is neither strong nor consistent, the virtues of democracy may be diffused in blind and leaderless wanderings. 481. DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION.—Even though never definitely focused or expressed, the vague beliefs, fancies, and prejudices of individuals may influence public affairs by causing community leaders to feel that "the people" will or will not tolerate a contemplated line of action. But the influence exerted will be much greater if the opinions of the individual are definite, and if there is some method of clarifying, coÖrdinating and expressing the opinions of groups of individuals upon a given subject. If the opinions of the individual are to be definite and concrete, he must habitually come in contact with forceful persons and institutions; if the opinions of various individuals are to be coÖrdinated and expressed there must be either physical contiguity among people, or else adequate means of transportation and communication. We may now consider a few of the forces which serve to make definite and to organize the opinions of individuals. 482. THE HOME.—Certainly no institution exerts a more powerful influence upon the beliefs and opinions of the individual than the home. Our basic ideals and traditions pass from generation to generation through the continuity of the family life. During the plastic and impressionable period of infancy the child is constantly under the influence of the parents. At first fashioned largely by the parents, the beliefs and sentiments of the growing child are later modified by contact with other family members. When children go out to the school, the church or the workshop, beliefs and attitudes encountered outside the home are weighed in the light of family teachings. When young men and young women make homes of their own, they in turn imprint upon their children a complex of tradition and opinion which is the compromise result of their own family training, modified by influences later encountered outside the family circle. 483. THE SCHOOL.—Supplementing, and in some respects supplanting, the influence of the home is the influence of the school. While still in the plastic stage the child is given over to the moulding influences of teacher and fellow-students. New contacts are made, new opinions are encountered, new avenues of thought and action are opened to the young and growing mind. Of recent years the tendency of the school to identify itself more closely with the practical life of the community is increasing the power and influence of that institution. The school is proving a genuine means of transition between the relatively localized influence of the home and the more widely diffused influences of the community. 484. THE CHURCH.—Closely related to the school as a determinant of opinion is the church. In the early stages of social development the home was equally the center of intellectual and religious life, but in recent times the church and the school have become separate, though related, institutions. The child spends more time in school than in the company of religious instructors other than his parents, but affiliation with the church often continues throughout the life of the individual, while the average child leaves school at a relatively early age. From the standpoint of Public Opinion, the primary importance of the church is that it exerts a powerful influence upon the ideals and conduct of both young and old. And as in the case of the school, this influence is being deepened by the increasingly close connection between the church and the practical life of the community. 485. THE THEATER.—The theatre has always been a vital influence in man's aesthetic and emotional life. Drama, opera, comedy, and burlesque are variant forms, but they are alike in that they influence the audience. In the last decade the moving picture has greatly increased the power and influence of the theatre. The low price of the moving picture brings the theatre to millions who formerly were excluded from any appreciable degree of theatrical entertainment. The daily moving picture attendance of ten million people, the stimulating effect of music, the strong emotional appeal, the tender age of many of the audience, and the growing use of the moving picture as propaganda, all combine to make the film a powerful factor in the formation of Public Opinion. 486. THE PRESS.—The press is the nervous system of the nation. Supplemented by other means of communication, and aided by agencies of transportation, the press coÖrdinates individuals not physically contiguous, and thus enables them to act in concert. It lets everybody know what everybody else is thinking, or at least what they are supposed to be thinking. The forms of the printed page are infinitely various: daily papers, weeklies, monthlies, pamphlets, and books,—all of these are increasingly numerous. Statesmen, teachers, reformers, propagandists, and professional writers combine to turn out tons of printed matter a day. Pictures, jokes, contests, and stories are resorted to for the purpose of attracting attention. Editorials, advertisements, and news articles are among the vehicles of expression used. Printed matter does not wait for the individual to seek it out, but instead it goes to him. In various forms it encounters him in the street, stares at him from shop windows and billboards, forces itself upon his attention in the street cars, and knocks at the door of his private dwelling. In all its forms, it should be remembered, the dominant aim of the printed page is to influence the individual, to cause him to do something or to refrain from doing something. 487. GROWING IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION.—Despite the volume of European immigration to this country, American ideals and institutions are rendering our population more and more homogeneous, and thus more open to unifying influences. The increasing ease of transportation and communication is everywhere making isolation more difficult. Not only are the school, the church, the press, and the theatre widening in scope and increasing in influence, but new forms of expression are developing. There is a growing number of private organizations advocating social, economic, or political reforms. The popularization of psychology has encouraged the rise of innumerable forms of propaganda designed to influence the opinions of the community and nation. Occupational and social groups are everywhere organizing, clarifying their opinions, and expressing common principles in the effort to influence the public mind. All of these factors combine to increase the importance of Public Opinion in present-day American life. 488. DANGERS OF UNREGULATED PUBLIC OPINION.—The growing power of Public Opinion brings with it increased possibilities for good, but also increased possibilities for evil. In an important sense, this is the age of the propagandist, the crank reformer, and the subsidized newspaper, the age of the agitator who spreads lies through anonymous letters, unsigned posters, and irresponsible whisperings. The individual must be constantly on his guard against this flood; he must recognize that Public Opinion is often capricious, and that a sudden hysteria may inflict untold injury. The morality of a mob is inferior to the morality of the individuals composing the mob, because in a mob the sense of power is dominant and the sense of responsibility is suppressed. Properly speaking a mob depends upon physical contiguity, but the coÖrdinating influence of rapid transportation and communication may create a mob spirit between individuals not physically in contact. When propaganda lashes into a passion groups of people in widely separated areas, democracy becomes the most dangerous of all forms of government: there is no sure hand upon the helm, the people control en masse, in a burst of passion they may lay waste the social heritage of centuries. 489. FREEDOM A PARTIAL SAFEGUARD AGAINST UNSOUND PUBLIC OPINION.— While democracy facilitates the creation of the mob spirit, it likewise carries within itself at least a partial remedy for unsound Public Opinion. Men's opinions are infinitely various: the same community that produces the fanatic or the impractical idealist generally produces sensible and practical men as well. In politics men everywhere tend to divide into a radical group and a conservative group, between which control of the government oscillates. Where freedom of expression is permitted, the existence of these two antagonistic camps is automatically a safeguard of the public welfare. Any one of a number of groups of people might ruin the country if left to themselves. But they are not left to themselves. Their opponents are constantly criticizing and checking them. When cranks launch propaganda, conservative critics launch counter-propaganda; when special interests attempt to influence the public mind, public- spirited individuals or organizations force both sides of the question before the public. When public officials neglect their duties, a thousand discerning men are ready to shout the fact from the housetops. Though the majority party secures control of government, the minority is never idle. Rather, it is constantly watching, waiting, marshaling opinion against the majority, calling public attention to the mistakes of their opponents, and agitating for a change of administration. 490. THE GUIDANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION.—Let us briefly consider the question of guiding or directing the formulation of sound Public Opinion. In a free country, such guidance may sometimes prove dangerous, and yet careful direction of the formulation of Public Opinion is justified by two facts: First, the formulation of sound opinion is retarded by the great difficulty of securing adequate information on the great problems of modern civilization. Here the individual needs some help. Second, everyone who can distinguish between license and liberty must agree that we should limit the influence of individuals and institutions which suppress minority opinion, and distort facts in the effort to pervert Public Opinion. These considerations suggest two distinct lines of action. First, we can aid in the formulation of sound opinion by making it easier for the individual to secure data and information on current topics. The extension and perfection of the postal service, the improvement of our system of transportation, the spread of the school and library, and possibly the free distribution of literature dealing with the nature and functions of government, these and similar measures would prove helpful. Second, law and moral education ought to coÖperate in suppressing influences which seek deliberately to poison or pervert the public mind. Free speech is a priceless element in democracy, but just as we must harmonize individual liberty with the interests of the group, so we must prevent the use of free speech for criminal purposes. Especially ought the press and the school to be encouraged to give both sides of debatable questions. Every agency dealing with the issues of American life, indeed, ought to be careful not to distort those issues by suppressing or misusing facts. Above all, we must be careful not to pander to low ideals by emphasizing the negative and destructive side of our problems. |
|
