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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN
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464 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 465
For the purpose of our study let us construct three ideal types
which shall be called the expert, the man on the street, and the
well-informed citizen.
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466 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 467
in
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468 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 469
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470 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 471
IV
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472 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 473
acteristic of our modern civilization. We are less and less deter-
less masters in our own right to define what is, and what is not,
relevant to us. Politically, economically, and socially imposed
relevances beyond our control have to be taken into account by
us as they are. Therefore, we have to know them. But to what
extent?
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474 SOCIAL RESEARCH
and thinking. He will not cross the bridge
and he takes it for granted that he will fi
needs it and that it will be strong enoug
is one of the reasons why in forming his opin
governed by sentiment than by informatio
statistics have amply shown, the comic pag
to the foreign news, the radio quizzes to ne
The expert, as we understand this term,
system of imposed relevances- imposed, tha
pre-established within his field. Or to be m
decision to become an expert he has accept
posed within his field as the intrinsic, and
relevances of his acting and thinking. Bu
limited. To be sure, there are marginal
problems outside his specific field, but th
assign them to another expert whose conc
to be. The expert starts from the assumpt
system of problems established within his
that it is the only relevant system. All his
to this frame of reference which has been
for all. He who does not accept it as the
of his intrinsic relevances does not share with
of discourse. He can expect from the ex
the indication of suitable means for attaini
not the determination of the ends themselves. Clemenceau's
famous statement that war is too important a business to be left
exclusively to generals illustrates the way in which a man oriented
toward more comprehensive ends reacts to expert advice.
The well-informed citizen finds himself placed in a domain
which belongs to an infinite number of possible frames of refer-
ence. There are no pregiven ready-made ends, no fixed border
lines within which he can look for shelter. He has to choose the
frame of reference by choosing his interest; he has to investigate
the zones of relevances adhering to it; and he has to gather as
much knowledge as possible of the origin and sources of the
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 475
relevances actually or potentially imposed upon him
of the classification previously used, the well-inform
will restrict, in so far as is possible, the zone of the i
mindful that what is today relatively irrelevant may b
tomorrow as a primary relevance and that the provin
so-called absolutely irrelevant may reveal itself as the
the anonymous powers which may overtake him. T
an attitude as different from that of the expert whose
is delimited by a single system of relevances as from t
man on the street which is indifferent to the structure of relevance
VI
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476 SOCIAL RESEARCH
frame of this paper we have to restrict ourse
which are by no means exhaustive.
Socially derived knowledge may origina
ways. First, it may come from the imm
another individual who communicates this
present purposes such an individual sha
witness. My belief in his report is based
reported event occurred in the world wi
"there/1 from his position in space and
observed and events experienced which wer
"here," from my position; but if I were "t
I would have experienced the same. Thi
furthermore, a certain conformity of my
with that of the eyewitness. Otherwise I a
that I would have observed certain aspects
which remained unnoticed by the reporter
The second source of socially derived kno
immediate experience of another individua
eyewitness and not necessarily reporting di
the observed event has its place in a system
of a configuration substantially different f
call such an individual an insider. My b
based on the assumption that the insider,
the reported event in a unique or typical c
"knows it better" than I would if I observed the same event but
was unaware of its intrinsic significance.
Third, there is the opinion of another individual, based by
him on facts collected from some source or other of immediate
or socially derived knowledge but arranged and grouped accord-
ing to a system of relevances similar to my own. Such an indi-
vidual shall be called an analyst. His opinion carries the more
weight with me the more I can control the facts upon which it
is based and the more I am convinced of the congruity of his
system of relevances with my own.
And finally, there is the opinion of another individual based
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THE WELL-INFORMED CITIZEN 477
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478 SOCIAL RESEARCH
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