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Article: To Speak for the People: Public Opinion and the Problem of Legitimacy in the French Revolution.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- March 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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To Speak for the People: Public Opinion and the Problem of Legitimacy in the French Revolution. By Jon Cowans. (New York: Routledge, 2001. Pp. 249. $90.00.)
What Keith Baker began, Jon Cowans has sought to finish. In an influential article, first published in 1987, Baker contrasted the French notion of public opinion with that of contemporary views held in North America and England. (1) Finding the French deeply suspicious of the contestatory approach acceptable in these other places, he saw the French conception of public opinion as a unity that could provide a rational judgment on political matters. Other scholars demonstrated how this understanding extended ...