Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: always in question
- 1 Thersites and the personification of anti-authority
- 2 Socrates and the quest for authority
- 3 Rome and the founding of authority
- 4 Augustus: a role model for authority through the ages
- 5 Medieval authority and the Investiture Contest
- 6 Medieval claim-making and the sociology of tradition
- 7 Reformation and the emergence of the problem of order
- 8 Hobbes and the problem of order
- 9 The rationalisation of authority
- 10 The limits of the authority of the rational
- 11 Taming public opinion and the quest for authority
- 12 Nineteenth-century authority on the defensive
- 13 Authority transformed into sociology's cause
- 14 The rise of negative theories of authority
- 15 By passing authority through the rationalisation of persuasion
- 16 In the shadow of authoritarianism
- Conclusion: final thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
11 - Taming public opinion and the quest for authority
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: always in question
- 1 Thersites and the personification of anti-authority
- 2 Socrates and the quest for authority
- 3 Rome and the founding of authority
- 4 Augustus: a role model for authority through the ages
- 5 Medieval authority and the Investiture Contest
- 6 Medieval claim-making and the sociology of tradition
- 7 Reformation and the emergence of the problem of order
- 8 Hobbes and the problem of order
- 9 The rationalisation of authority
- 10 The limits of the authority of the rational
- 11 Taming public opinion and the quest for authority
- 12 Nineteenth-century authority on the defensive
- 13 Authority transformed into sociology's cause
- 14 The rise of negative theories of authority
- 15 By passing authority through the rationalisation of persuasion
- 16 In the shadow of authoritarianism
- Conclusion: final thoughts
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
The nineteenth century was frequently perceived as an era of transition between the relatively stable world of pre-revolutionary Europe and an uncertain age where the outlines of what authority would look like in the future was difficult to discern. This was a question that preoccupied political commentators and also dominated the agenda of the emerging discipline of sociology.
For public commentators associated with the rising middle class in the nineteenth century, the notion of public opinion was central to a narrative through which both the problem of authority and its potential solutions could be conceptualised. In the aftermath of the upheavals of the previous century, traditional arguments about the sanctity of hierarchy and authority lost much of their capacity to motivate society. In any case, the aspirations of the urban middle classes were inconsistent with a hierarchy based on birth. Many of them sought to consolidate their status through claiming moral and intellectual leadership over public opinion. However, the project of influencing opinion constantly raised questions about its relationship to authority.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- AuthorityA Sociological History, pp. 247 - 272Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013