the intangible public opinion as safeguard of the rechtsstaat the Press Act (tryckfrihetsförordningen).13 This Act not only abolished censorship, ensuring a free press, but also introduced the principle of free access to public records (offentlighetsprincipen). The political philosophers of the enlightenment had asked for this principle. There had to be free access to public information on the issues that were of interest to the public opinion. When the French revolutionaries in 1789 proclaimed their Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen, they were eager to safeguard public opinion. In article 10, they wrote that no one might be disquieted for his opinions.15 In article 11, they called the free communication of thoughts and expressions one of the most precious rights of man.16 Two years later, in 1791, the First Amendment also provided freedom of speech and of the press in the newly founded United States of America.17 This should not come as a surprise, since there is a natural relationship between public opinion, freedom of the press and the Rechtsstaat. If a government prevents the free and public expression of opinions, a public opinion as such simply cannot exist. That is why there is no true public opinion in autocratic regimes. There is only the official, state directed opinion, next to some suppressed, clandestine opinions. Napoleon for instance was much aware of the power of public opinion and he did everything to control, to manipulate and to steer it.18 After the coup of 18 13 Nordin, Jonas, 1766 års tryckfrihetsförordning: bakgrund och betydelse, Stockholm 2015; Spangenberg, Carl Gustaf, Föreochefter1766: den svenska censuren och tryckfriheten – en rättshistorisk översikt. I: Boe, Hilde, Janss, Christian & Brenna Taugbol, Stine (red.), Filologi och sensur.Bidrag till en konferanse avholdt av Nordisk Nettverk for Edisjonsfilologer 11–13 Oktober 2013, Oslo 2015; Örtenhed, Kristina, Wennberg, Bertil, (ed.), Press freedom 250 years: freedom of the press and public access to official documents in Sweden and Finland – a living heritage from 1766, Stockholm 2018. 14 Speier, Historical Development of Public Opinion, s. 377. 15 ArticleX: “No one may be disquieted for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.” 16 Article XI: “The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law.” 17 The text of the First Amendment is as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 18 Tulard, Jean, Napoléon ou la maîtrise de l’opinion publique. I: d’Orceval, François, (red.), Opinion publique et crise de la démocratie, Paris 2019, s. 97–110. 68
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