n the liberal democracies of the
West, and in a growing number of
other nations, the "public" and its
"opinion" are fixtures of modem
life. Indeed, it is hard to imagine
how culture and politics ever man- aged without them. The highbrow poet, the pulp novelist, the classical musician, the rock star, the avante-garde filmmaker, the director of TV sit-coms: All of these produc- ers of "culture" need an image of the "pub- lic" and its expected reaction, wh...