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19th-Century Theory of Public Opinion in the Light of Present
Šimečková, Michaela ; Vinopal, Jiří (advisor) ; Šubrt, Jiří (referee)
This diploma thesis is thematically oriented towards early theories of public opinion of the late 19th century. Concretely, it deals with the theories of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill and James Bryce. The thesis presents an analysis, interpretation and a comparison of these three thinkers and concentrates on the following topics: the definition of the term "public opinion"; the formation of public opinion; the influence individuals, groups and society as a whole have on public opinion; and the role the media play in public opinion. Further, it shows how these authors' thoughts are continued in selected 20th century theories of public opinion, namely in Walter Lippmann's concept of public opinion, the Two-step flow model developed by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's Spiral of Silence, Irving Crespi's theory of the Public Opinion Process and Giovanni Sartori's "cascade model" of public opinion. Key words: public opinion, media, Two-step flow model, Spiral of Silence, Public Opinion Process, cascade model of public opinion, Alexis de Tocqeuville, John Stuart Mill, James Bryce, W. Lippmann, E. Katz, P. Lazarsfeld, E. Noelle-Neumann, I. Crespi, G. Sartori
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19th-Century Theory of Public Opinion in the Light of Present
Šimečková, Michaela ; Vinopal, Jiří (advisor) ; Šubrt, Jiří (referee)
This diploma thesis is thematically oriented towards early theories of public opinion of the late 19th century. Concretely, it deals with the theories of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill and James Bryce. The thesis presents an analysis, interpretation and a comparison of these three thinkers and concentrates on the following topics: the definition of the term "public opinion"; the formation of public opinion; the influence individuals, groups and society as a whole have on public opinion; and the role the media play in public opinion. Further, it shows how these authors' thoughts are continued in selected 20th century theories of public opinion, namely in Walter Lippmann's concept of public opinion, the Two-step flow model developed by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's Spiral of Silence, Irving Crespi's theory of the Public Opinion Process and Giovanni Sartori's "cascade model" of public opinion. Key words: public opinion, media, Two-step flow model, Spiral of Silence, Public Opinion Process, cascade model of public opinion, Alexis de Tocqeuville, John Stuart Mill, James Bryce, W. Lippmann, E. Katz, P. Lazarsfeld, E. Noelle-Neumann, I. Crespi, G. Sartori
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The limits of freedom of expression in a liberal democracy
Zícha, Lukáš ; Kučera, Rudolf (advisor) ; Franěk, Jakub (referee)
The main topic of this paper is freedom of expression and its limits in liberal democracy from the point of view of political philosophy. First of all, the author explores the functions that freedom of expression has in society and its significance in European history beginning in Ancient Greece. Subsequently, the text focuses on all possible approaches to its limitation, two of which are identified as relevant for the case of liberal democracy. These approaches, represented by John Stuart Mill and Joel Feinberg, are closely connected and can be (and usually are) applied together. Therefore, after a detailed analysis of both, a singular assessing principle is created, which makes it possible to evaluate particular cases and tell if the limits of freedom of speech (acceptable in liberal democracy) were transgressed or not. The final principle of political philosophy is then applied to the case of the dissolution of the Workers' party by The Supreme Administrative Court. The author thoroughly examines both the political activities of the party itself and the method followed by the court when deciding the sentence. Afterwards, these two methods (the law and the political philosophy one) are compared, which helps to highlight both their similarities and differences. In both cases, the activity of the...
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Paradoxes of liberal liberty: revision of the classical assumptions of freedom
Kolínský, Ondřej ; Mlčoch, Lubomír (advisor) ; Skuhrovec, Jiří (referee)
Current criticism of liberalism is usually based on ad hoc economic and social arguments. In this bachelor thesis, on the contrary, we seek to verify to what extent the very core of the classical liberal doctrine is consistent with the findings of modern economics. In the first part, we examine the writings of the fathers of economic liberalism; Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Friedrich August von Hayek. On their grounds, we describe and specify the type of liberty this paper is concerned with. Also, we show what beliefs these philosophers held regarding the question of human rationality. In the second part, we provide some philosophical background to the question of freedom and explain how it is interconnected with rationality. Finally, in the third part, we draw some empirical findings from behavioral economics, which aims at explaining the disparity between preferences and actual decisions of people. By contrasting these discoveries with the original liberal ideas, we are able to identify specific points, where the classical theorists incline to misleading beliefs. The aim of this paper is to assess how grave the implications of these errors are and how they could be addressed within the framework of liberalism. We also estimate their impact on the market interaction and examine possible...
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