“The Reading Nation”: Sieyès’s Theory of Public Opinion

How is public opinion formed, and how should it influence representatives? This article examines these questions through the lens of the French Revolution—a pivotal moment for democratic theory—where competing visions of public opinion emerged. It reconstructs Abbé Sieyès’s distinctive theory of public opinion, centered on reading and writing, and contrasts it with Robespierre’s vocal public and Bonaparte’s mesmerized audience. Sieyès envisioned elected expert bodies as a “fixed point in public opinion” interacting with “the reading nation” through printed materials. He argued that the invention of printing facilitated a new kind of politics, enabling citizens to form political judgments without the need for physical assembly. This literary conception of public opinion provided an alternative to Robespierre’s club-based conception, where citizens voiced their collective opinions as an assembled public. It also served as a counterpoint to Bonaparte’s public, which curtailed citizen assembly and communication to foster blind admiration for the leader. By examining these competing conceptions—each emphasizing different modes of participation (voice, reading, passive admiration) and settings (assemblies or private spaces)—the essay introduces the concept of a “shapeshifting public,” which expresses itself differently depending on whether it is assembled or dispersed.