Recently, after a hiatus of some thirty years, the term "public opinion" has been reappearing in the lexicon of Soviet scholarship. In this article, a Russian social scientist attempts to present public opinion "within a scientific context and to fill a gap in our theoretical literature." He discusses the devel opment of the concept in Western and Soviet thought, and points with some accuracy to certain opinion research questions that have been ignored by many Western scholars. The treatment is essentially Marxian, of course, and the author concludes that the formation of public opinion is primarily the result of conscious social activity, in which Russian Communist organizations should further participate.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baker, J.V.T., "The Place of a Department of Statistics in a Democracy." N. Z. J. of Pub. Admin., XXII (Sept. '59), 37-47. More accurate, consistent, and understandable statistical information should be provided, for public and private uses.
2.
Bauer, R.A., and I. De Sola P.American Businessmen and International Trade. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959 . Data from a 1955 study on the communications behavior and attitudes toward foreign trade policy of 904 executives; includes personal background data on men.
3.
Baum, W., "Der Generalstab und sein Verhiltnis zur Politik." Neue pol. Literatur, IV (Nov. '59), cols. 877-900. Summarizes nine works relating to the connections of German general staffs with politics, 1860 to 1945.
4.
Becker, H., "Sozialforschung und Bildungspolitik." Zeit. für Pol. , VI (#3, '59), 218-30. The roles, now only partly accepted, of social research in the German policy process.
5.
Bell, D.The End of Ideology. Glencoe, Ill. : The Free Press, 1959. The significance of the failure of ideology in America and the rise of a new fear of "the masses" and social action among intellectuals.
6.
Bennis, W.G., "Leadership Theory and Administrative Behavior: The Problem of Authority ." Admin. Sci. Q., IV (Dec. '59), 259-301. In reference to the authority problem, there are two approaches in treatments of organizational behavior: traditional and human relations. A new explication of leadership is proposed to account for the usefulness of certain leadership propositions.
7.
Bernstein, B., "A Public Language: Some Sociological Implications of a Linguistic Form." Br. J. of Soc., X (Dec. '59), 311-26. Linguistic form is a powerful conditioner of what is learned and how it is learned; certain types of behavior are facilitated by a public language (grammatically simple, colloquial, low order of symbolism).
8.
Bogue, D.J.The Population of the United States. Glencoe, Ill. : The Free Press, 1959. Intensive analysis of and commentary on U.S. Census data of all types, with emphasis on the period 1940-59.
9.
B, M., " Il bicameralismo imperfetto o limitato nelle costituzioni contemporanee." Rassegna di Diritto Pubblico, XIV (April-June '59), 207-334. History and comparison of second houses of legislatures.
10.
Caplow, T., and R.J. McGee.The Academic Marketplace. N.Y. : Basic Books, 1958. A provocative study of departmental policies regarding hiring and firing in ten major but anonymous universities.
11.
Costa, A.M., "Prospettive nella ricerca sociologica." Società, XV (Sept.-Oct. '59), 948-56. On heuristic hypotheses, causation, laws, specific conditions, general tendencies. A summary and exhortation.
12.
Croner, F., "Soziologie und Statistik." Kölner Zeit. für Soz. und Soxialpsych., XI (#3, '59), 377-400. Sociology and statistics have a fundamental common ground, or problem: that of identifying and categorizing phenomena. Both theoretical and applied aspects of the problem are treated.
13.
Davis, K., "The Myth of Functional Analysis as a Special Method in Sociology and Anthropology." Amer. Soc. R., XXIV (Dec. '59), 757-71. Functionalism is not a special method; the ambiguities of its special terminology now make it a liability.
14.
Dyer, M.The Weapon on the Wall. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1959. Significance and uses of psychological warfare in the cold war.
15.
Edwards, G.F.The Negro Professional Class. Glencoe, Ill. : The Free Press, 1959. Analyzes factors of age, region of origin, educational level of parents, family income, and career patterns of the Negro professional class.
16.
Eisenstadt, S.N., "Bureaucracy, Bureaucratization, and Debureaucratization." Admin. Sci. Q., IV (Dec. '59), 302-20. Hypotheses and proposed research on the relations between bureaucratic bodies as means to social goals, and as means for gaining and exercising power.
17.
Elegant, R.S.The Dragon's Seed. N.Y. : St. Martin's Press, 1959. The growing power of "overseas" Chinese in SE Asia and their ties to the Peking regime.
18.
Form, W.H., and W.V. D'Antonio, "Integration and Cleavage Among Community Influentials in Two Border Cities." Amer. Soc. R., XXIV (Dec. '59), 804-14. Elite groups are socially distinct in both El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, though in the latter they tend to be more clear-cut and follow institutional boundaries more closely.
19.
Fox, A.B.The Power of Small States. Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 1959. The means by which five European nations maintained neutrality in WW II, suggesting parallels with "non-alignment" in the cold war.
20.
Gardiner, P., ed. Theories of History. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959 . Classical and contemporary readings on philosophies of history.
21.
Garsten, F.L.Princes and Parliaments in Germany. N.Y.: Oxford , 1959. Study covering the period from the 15th to 18th centuries.
22.
Geis, G., "In Scopolamine Veritas." J. of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Sci., L (Nov.-Dec. '59), 347-57. The use of drug-induced statements in Renaissance Europe and the development and use of scopolamine ("truth serum") since the 1920's.
23.
Gilpatrick, T.V., "Price Support Policy and the Midwest Farm Vote." Midwest J. of Pol. Sci., III (Nov. '59), 319-35. Study of 1954 voting differentials indicates that price support policy had no appreciable differential effects in Iowa and Illinois rural voting.
24.
Greer, S.Last Man In: Racial Access to Union Power. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. A study of union power structure, interpreting race relations in unions in terms of the functional necessities of the union as an organization.
25.
Hanham, H.J.Elections and Party Management. N.Y.: Longmans , 1959. Politicians and the growth of party organization in England in the period immediately following the 1867 Reform Act.
26.
Mauser, P.M., "Report on the Work of the Committee on Urbanization." SSRC Items, XIII (Dec. '59), 40-43. Types of frameworks used in the study of city and urban phenomena by six social sciences.
27.
Hector, L.J., "Government by Anonymity: Who Writes Our Regulatory Opinions?" Amer . Bar Assoc. J., XLV (Dec. '59), 1260-64, ff. Few commissioners in federal agencies write their own opinions ; "impartial" and anonymous persons write them, a practice having undesirable consequences.
28.
Hennessy, B., "Politicals and Apoliticals: Some Measurements of Personality Traits ." Midwest J. of Pol. Sci., III (Nov. '59), 336-55. Tests of six personality scales: politicals have greater power drives, are more authoritarian, for example; no differences were found between politicals and apoliticals on the liberalism scale.
29.
Hobsbawm, E.G.Social Bandits and Primitive Rebels. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. Interprets such groups as having adopted archaic forms of social protest; they may be the sources of profound social change.
30.
Horn, G.-H., "Experimentelle Demokratie." Pol. Studien, X (Nov. '59), 709-26. Possibilities and drawbacks of changing the functions of voters, e.g., giving them new means of political expression and decision-making.
31.
Joseph, F. M., ed. As Others See Us. Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1959 . Essays by foreigners on the civilization and national characteristics of Americans.
32.
Katona, G., "La psychologie de la récession." Econ. appliqueé, XII (July-Sept. '59), 449-68. Recent consumer behavior in the U.S., the function of consumer attitudes, and criticism, in terms of economic psychology, of predictions that there will be an unfavorable economic climate in the U.S. in the 1960's.
33.
Kornhauser, W.The Politics of Mass Society. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. Historical and contemporary instances in which masses have engaged in political activity outside society's rules governing political action.
34.
Lampman, R.J., "Changes in the Share of Wealth Held by Top Wealth-Holders, 1922-56 ." R. of Econ. and Stat., XLI (Nov. '59), 379-92. Finds some decline in share of wealth held by top one-two per cent of persons (in terms of estate tax wealth) since 1922; Britain, by comparison, has greater inequality.
35.
Laurent, F.W.The Business of a Trial Court. Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press, 1959. A record and analysis of all actions and special proceedings of a Wisconsin county circuit court, 1855-1954.
36.
Lipset, S.M., "Der 'Faschismus'—die Linke, die Rechte und die Mitte." Kölner Zeit. für Soz. und Sozialpsych., XI (#'3, '59), 401-44. Relations between extremist movements and class groupings in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and the U.S.
37.
Livingston, W.S., "Minor Parties and Minority M.P.'s, 1945-55." West. Pol. Q., XII (Dec. '59), 1017-37. Analysis of minor-party voting and candidates shows they have had substantial effects on major-party competition and election results in Britain.
38.
Lorig, A.N., "The Growth of a Bureaucracy." West. Pol. Q., XII (Dec. '59), 932-38. The bureaucratic nature of United Fund organizations, growing public dissatisfaction with their uses of funds, and declining extent of personal involvement.
39.
Loveridge, A.J., "Chiefs and Politics." J. of African Admin., XI (Oct. '59), 201-07. Their role is an important one, tied only in part to the importance of tribes as social groupings.
40.
Lytton, H.D., "Recent Productivity Trends in the Federal Government: An Exploratory Study." R. of Econ. and Stat., XLI (Nov. '59), 341-59. Finds an upward productivity trend in several government agencies; outlines problems and further study.
41.
Maass, A., ed. Area and Power: A Theory of Local Government. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. Papers on the areal analysis of power, e.g., "Division of Powers, An Areal Analysis," "A Division of Power in Metropolitan Areas."
42.
Mantel, H.N., "The Congressional Record: Fact or Fiction of the Legislative Process ?" West. Pol. Q., XII (Dec. '59), 981-95. The nature of the Record, emphasizing that though it is used as evidence of congressional debates, materials are often much revised and extended.
43.
Marschak, T., "Centralization and Decentralization in Economic Organizations." Econometrica, XXVII (July '59), 399-430. Theoretical demonstration that there is no logical basis for the classic preference for decentralized as opposed to centralized or unrestricted decision-making in socialist economies.
44.
Meier, R.L., "Measuring Social and Cultural Change in Urban Regions." J. of Amer. Inst. of Planners, XXV (Nov. '59), 180-90. It will soon be possible to derive and use a representative sample of social communications to summarize the state of the culture, answer specific questions about urban behavior, and to prepare an index of "urbanity." An excellent and portentous joining of present theory and techniques.
45.
Moreno, J. L., ed. The Sociometry Reader. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959 . A collection of major articles on theory, methodology, history, and applications of sociometry.
46.
Mouly, J., "Quelques aspects économiques et sociaux de la planification dans les pays sousdéveloppés." Econ. appliqueé, XII (July-Sept. '59), 307-26. Evaluates two extreme policies for economic development, dilution of capital and concentration of capital, in theory and in historical terms, and in terms of human costs.
47.
Newman, K.J., "The New Monarchies of the Middle East." J. of Intl. Affairs, XIII (#2, '59), 157-68. Interprets the military dictatorships of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, etc., as monarchies, in the Aristotelian and Hobbesian sense.
48.
Nicholson, M.B., "Probability and Economic Decision Taking." Manchester Sch. of Econ. and Social Studies, XXVII (Sept. '59), 221-40. Discusses problems and reviews major lines of development.
49.
Noelle-Neumann, E., "Mass Communication Media and Public Opinion." Journalism Q., XXXVI (Fall '59), 401-09. The mass media can reinforce but seldom change opinion.
50.
" A Note on Some Aspects of National Accounting Methodology in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union" U.N. Econ. Bul. for Europe, XI (Nov. '59), 52-68. Interprets economic indices (e.g., national product, national expenditure) of the Communist countries in terms of the methods used to derive them, and comments on their comparability with Western data.
51.
Paauw, D.S.Financing Economic Development: A Case Study of Indonesia. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959 . Indonesian capital needs, and attempts of the Indonesian government to meet them from indigenous sources.
52.
Parsons, T.Structure and Process in Modern Societies. Glencoe, Ill. : The Free Press, 1959. With particular emphasis on the functions of political and economic bureaucracies within the larger structure of society.
53.
Polsby, N.W., "Three Problems in the Analysis of Community Power." Amer. Soc. R., XXIV (Dec. '59), 796-803. Reformulation of the "power structure" concept, derived from research on New Haven social structure.
54.
Reif, H., "Das Parlament im Demokratischen Staat." Zeit. für Pol., VI (#3, '59), 205-17. The bases, or lack of bases, for a democratic parliament in West Germany, compared with the experience of other countries.
55.
Reissman, L.Class in American Society. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. A systematic analysis of what class means for American society: why Americans have historically refused to recognize the existence of class, a survey of empirical findings on class in America, etc.
56.
Rigby, T.H., "Khrushchov and the Resuscitation of the Central Committee." Australian Outlook, XIII (Sept. '59), 165-80. Data on the growing importance of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee since 1953, first as an instrument of inner-party struggle, now as a "sounding chamber."
57.
Rossi, P.H., and R.A. Dentler, Remaking the City. Glencoes, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. Roles of political, civic, educational, and religious organization in "a prime test case for urban renewal," that of the Hyde Park-Kenwood section of Chicago.
58.
Sady, E.J., "Community Development and Local Government." J. of African Admin., XI (Oct. '59), 179-86. The organization of community development programs in underdeveloped areas.
59.
Schmoelders, G., "Fiscal Psychology: A New Branch of Public Finance." Nat. Tax J., XII (Dec. '59), 340-45. According to West German survey data, administrators and Bundestag members have inadequate economic knowledge, tax-dodging is unfamiliar to 90 % of the German population; other subjects of fiscal psychology are suggested for investigation.
60.
Schubert, G.A.Quantitative Analysis of Judicial Behavior. Glencoe, Ill. : The Free Press, 1959. Outlines several behavioral research methods applicable to judicial decision-making studies, and reports on some exploratory projects.
61.
Scott, K.J., "The Scope for Expert Opinions from Learned Societies." N. Z. J. of Pub. Admin., XXII (Sept. '59), 3-12. A proposed policy and research role for the N. Z. Institute of Public Administration, by its president.
62.
Selvin, H.C.The Effects of Leadership. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1959. Sociological and psychological aspects of the relations between leaders and followers, outside groups as well as within them.
63.
Silver, E.S., "Organized Gambling and Law Enforcement." J. of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Sci., L (Nov.-Dec. '59), 397-403. A set of piecise policy recommendations to combat gambling and police corruption, delivered by a Brooklyn grand jury.
64.
Simon, W.B., "Motivation of a Totalitarian Mass Vote." Br. J. of Soc., X (Dec. '59), 338-45. Analysis of the Nazi vote, 1927-33, suggests that mass voting for totalitarian parties "simply represents a non-specified protest of discontent."
65.
Simon, W.B., "Politische Ethik und Politische Struktur." Kolner Zeit. fur Soz. und Sozialpsych., XI (#3, '59), 445-59. Empirical interrelations between political ethics and political structure, based on comparison of the first and second Austrian republics.
66.
Smith, R.J., "Culture Change and the Small Community." J. of Social Issues, XIV (#4, '58), 1-4. Introduces an issue devoted to five investigations combining the study of culture change with the community study method. Included are "The Election Ritual in a Thai Village," by H. P. Phillips; and "Caste Ideology m a North Indian Village," by P. M. Maher.
67.
Stanford Research Institute.United States Foreign Polity . Washington, D. C. : USGPO, 1959. Outlines possible nonmilitary scientific developments and their potential impact on U.S. foreign policy problems, and makes policy recommendations.
68.
Stokes, W.S.Latin American Politics. N.Y.: Crowell, 1959. Introductory study of the nature of political power in Latin American countries.
69.
Strauss, A.Mirrors and Masks. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Piess, 1959. Man's changes of identity in the context of knowing and dealing with other people, with implications for those studying societal structure.
70.
Sumagui, J.O., "The Statistical Organization and Services of the Japanese Government ." Econ. Research J., VI (Sept. '59), 66-73. Summary of statistical and research agencies and operations, which date from 1871 and, since 1946, have been coordinated by a central body.
71.
Takamiya, S., "Characteristics of Management in Japanese Enterprise." Annals of Hitotsubashi Acad., X (Dec. '59), 181-93. The prewar management practices of cooperation, based on paternalism, are being supplanted by management practices on the U.S. model, involving new relationships between managers and employees.
72.
Tinder, G., "Human Estrangement and the Failure of Political Imagination." R. of Pol., XXI (Oct. '59), 611-30. Argues that we often continue to apply political remedies after the problem for which they were intended has been solved, for example, "concern of political leaders for the economic and social standing of the multitudes is somewhat irrelevant."
73.
Trevor-Roper, H.R., "The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century." Past d Present, # 16 (Nov. '59), 31-64. This crisis was "not of the constitution nor of the system of production, but ... of the relation of the state to society."
74.
Tullock, G., "Problems of Majority Voting." J. of Pol. Econ, LXVII (Dec. '59), 571-79. Majority voting is by no means an optimal method of allocating resources or of determining related government policy.
75.
Udy, S.H., JR., " 'Bureaucracy' and 'Rationality' in Weber's Organizational Theory: An Empirical Study." Amer. Soc. R., XXIV (Dec. '59), 791-95. Tests hypotheses drawn from Weber's ideal-typical variables on data from the Human Area Relations Files, and proposes a general organizational model.
76.
The United States and Latin America. N Y.: The American Assembly, 1959. Six articles, including "Political Change in Latin America," "The Role of the Press and Communication," "The Economic Picture"
77.
Von Vorys, K., "Some Political Incentives for Economic Development in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon." West. Pol. Q , XII (Dec. '59), 1057-74. Consequences of the democratic framework for development, particularly the need for national consciousness and sense of participation.
78.
Vuaridel, R., "Le temps et l'espace dans le comportement economique." Revue Econ , X (Nov. '59), 809-37. Spatial and temporal dimensions must jointly be taken into account in studies of economic behavior.
79.
Weinberg, M., ed. Issues in Social Science . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall , 1959 (paper). Essays on social problems.
80.
Weismantll, W.L., "Dante's Inferno. The First Land Use Model." J. of Amer. Inst. of Planners, XXV (Nov. '59), 175-79. Dante's land use model, of concentric rings of declining land value, is still fashionable in city planning but is proving as unsuccessful as the inferno was undesirable.
81.
Young, J.N., and A.L. Collman, "Neighborhood Norms and the Adoption of Farm Practices." Rural Soc., XXIV (Dec '59), 372-80 Study of farm operators in 12 neighborhoods of a Kentucky county to account for differential adoption of recommended farming practices.
