Law, Public opinion and Cafe

The engraving "English Cafe in the 17th Century".

Dai Xue (Albert. V. Dicey), English jurist in the nineteenth century. His main works include an introduction to the study of the Constitution and lectures on the relationship between Law and Public opinion in Britain in the 19th Century.

The Power of Public opinion by A V Dai Xue Edition: century Publishing Group Shanghai people's Publishing House January 2014 pricing: 39.00 yuan

In the 17th century, the theory of divine monarchy in the Middle Ages first began to collapse in England. after the Glorious Revolution, the foundation of government has shifted from acting king of God on earth to the hands of people who are connected to each other by the "social contract".

After this great historical turning point, it can be said that the creed of modern democratic society, "public opinion is providence", has been formed. The voice of the people through the parliament becomes the law, which is the embodiment of public opinion (public opinion). Therefore, from the perspective of law and political system, the law is the embodiment of public opinion, or as Rousseau said, the law is the embodiment of public will. However, on the other hand, from a social point of view, public opinion must be a synthesis and sublimation of all kinds of opinions and public opinions (opinions) in society. It can be said that public opinion embodies the overall ideological trend of an era.

Dai Pengfei (Ph. D. candidate, Kaiyuan Law School, Shanghai Jiaotong University, translator of "the Power of Public opinion")

The struggle between public opinion control and anti-control

British public opinion ushered in an unprecedented opportunity for development during the two revolutions in the 17th century. Prior to this, the development of public opinion and thought was strictly restrained by the church, especially the Church of England. In the 1740s, with the temporary collapse of the monarchy and the outbreak of civil war, the control of speech by the government and the church appeared in vain, and a large number of pamphlets appeared in England to defend the political propositions of the king and parliament respectively. At the same time, the public's thirst for information on these public events led to the emergence of the earliest news newspaper, the news book (newsbook). Unlike previous similar books, news books focus on domestic political events, while previous similar books are only allowed to publish anecdotes from abroad. At the same time of the fierce struggle between Parliament and the king, a war of news and public opinion is also under way. The irascible revolutionary atmosphere made various forms of printed matter emerge like a flood, and politicians and thinkers issued suggestions and policies one after another to outline their own reform plans. And each proposal and proposal has attracted countless satirical poems and critical articles. The role of news and public opinion in this struggle determines that from then on, public opinion is no longer just an official propaganda tool of the government. The interests and rights of the people have become the focus of debate among all parties in public opinion.

Since then, during the Cromwell Republic and after the restoration of the royal family, the Republic, the royal family and parliament tried to control the development of news and public opinion, but failed. In 1695, Parliament vetoed the Publishing Act, and publication censorship has never been restored in Britain ever since. This can be said to be the starting point of freedom of speech. Since then, the government's control over the publication of public opinion can only be carried out through stamp duty. The pioneer of stamp duty in Britain was Robert Harley, a minister under Queen Anne. Through stamp duty, on the one hand, we can expand government revenue, at the same time, the implementation of stamp duty has greatly increased the price of newspapers, so that few people pay attention to newspapers. The most successful person who uses stamp duty to control public opinion is Pete Jr. During the French Revolution, William Pitt succeeded in curbing the spread of revolutionary ideas in England by raising stamp duty. However, before that, stamp duty also promoted the independence of the American colonies.