Projects / Programmes
Mass media, public opinion and political representation
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.06.03 |
Social sciences |
Political science |
Communication science |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S265 |
Social sciences |
Press and communication sciences |
The public, public opinion, democracy, mass media, freedom of the press, public opinion polls
Researchers (7)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The project is focused on the fundamental contradictions that aggravate problems of definitions of, public opinion: 1. the internal, or semnatic, contradiction which is a consequence of connecting the two concepts - pluralistic ''''public'''' and individualistic ''''opinion'''', and 2. the external contradiction resulting from the relationship between the subjects of public opinion and the subjects opposing it, or between the expression and realisation of public opinion. The contradictions are examined in relation to the dominant traditions developed in the conceptualisation of public opinion: the classical liberal theory of the rule of public opinion, the libertarian theory of the tyranny of public opinion, American pragmatism and sociologization of the theory of the public, social-psychological models of public opinion, and post-modern dissertations on the ''''public sphere''''. These traditions demonstrate that public opinion is both politically relevant - since it always implies a certain relation toward the government - and politically problematic - since this relation is always historically biased. The question of the convergence of the dominant paradigms of the 20th century is, consequently, not only a question of theoretical and methodological (empirical), but also ideological compatibility of different conceptual streams.
