Susan Herbst , Department of Political Science, Northwestern Universy

Bourdieu is one of France’s leading public intellectuals, and he has spoken and written a considerable amount about the place of opinion polling in public life. His critiques of polling are many and subtle, although not all are translated into English. His most accessible work on polling is still “Public Opinion Does Not Exist” (Mattelart & Siegelaub, 1979).

Bourdieu’s charges that polling distorts politics reminds me of the interesting and complicated evolution of surveying in France. The French have long struggled — quite openly — with the notion of opinion polling. Loic Blondiaux (1991), a political scientist and historian who writes on public opinion, points out that the French came to polling very late in the twentieth century relative to other western nations.

While the Americans, Norwegians, Germans, and possibly even the Italians polled early in the 20th century, French policy makers, journalists, and social scientists resisted survey research as a way of knowing public opinion until the 1960s.

Why did the French resist polling and why is the debate about surveying so lively in France today? The answer is that the French still do take Rousseau seriously: It is the general will, as represented by the assembly or legislature, that best represents public opinion. Elected representatives can take inchoate, nebulous public sentiments and transform them into actionable directives for policy making. If the assembly truly represents the people, what is the usefulness of opinion polling, which only captures fleeting and often uninformed public attitudes?

The long-running debate about polling in France is provocative and sophisticated, regardless of whether you agree with Bourdieu or not.

References
Blondiaux, Loïc. (1991). "Comment rompre avec Durkheim? Jean Stoetzel et la sociologie française de l’après-guerre (1945 – 1958)." Revue française de sociologie 32: 753–91.
Mattelart, A., and S. Siegelaub. (1979). Communication and Class Struggle. New York: International General.

Susan Herbst
Department of Political Science
Scott Hall 601 University Place
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL 60208-1006
E-mail <s-herbst@nwu.edu>