O zgodovinskih sporih in preobratih v teorijah javnega mnenja

This paper discusses the conceptual heterogeneity in the field of \u27public opinion\u27 in the light of a distinction between positions that reflect public opinion as a democratic-emancipatory category and positions that consider public opinion from an \u27anthropological\u27 perspective - as an semi-institutional resource of social control. The paper discusses the main characteristics and implications of these two different perspectives in conceptualizing public opinion, primarily the questions of the differences between publicly expressed opinions and public opinion, subject/ivity of public opinion (public opinions vs. opinion of the public), and the controversial relation of public opinion to democracy and surveillance. The argument is made that in the two centuries following Bentham\u27s and Kant\u27s codification of the principle of publicity, none of the fundamental controversies has been resolved. Although the belief that the establishment of a public opinion polling industry homogenized and stablized the definition of public opinion is widely accepted by pollsters, the facts rather prove the contrary: despite the enormous quantities of money and attention devoted to public opinion polling, there are few theoretical perspectives to guide research on the role of public opinion in the political process, which is primarily a consequence of the fact that consistent and operationally valid definitions of the concept \u27public opinion\u27 are still missing. There are no signs of \u27reconciliation\u27 between normative-theoretical and empirical-statistical perspectiveson the contrary, it seems that Wilson was right when 45 years ago he stated that the differences between those who \u27believe in scientific study alone\u27 and those who see in the study of public opinion a possibility of advancement of rational and humane goals can hardly disappea