Public Opinion and the Press
The world of public communications has long been recognised as central to histories of democracy. In Latin America, the early origins of representative institutions and modern notions of democracy were closely linked to the emergence of a public opinion and to the growth of the press. Our project examines the many ways in which the histories of democracy and the press in Latin American countries relate to one another, all in the context of the global history of democracy between 1810 and 1930.
The abolition of censorship during the revolutions of independence stimulated the creation of political newspapers, giving way to expressions of dissent in the public space in both Spanish America and Brazil. The freedom of the press was established to break the colonial bond in the name of individual rights, public accountability, and political representation. In the decades that followed its initial establishment, the freedom of the press became a central issue of contention, showing its new importance in political life. It was, however, the object of ambiguous attitudes and frequent backlash. Moments of expansion and growing journalistic activity were often followed by moments of persecution, repression and contraction of individual rights. Despite those difficulties, by offering protections and a framework for legitimate dissent, the freedom of the press created the conditions for the proliferation of newspapers and other political publications. Partisan newspapers and journalists played a crucial role in elections, armed conflicts, and in popular campaigns for rights, while governments repeatedly sought to regulate and control the press through legislative reforms. Over time, the freedom of the press served to politicise societies, to invent political practices and to create representative institutions, both in the state and in civil society.
The ubiquity of the press in various aspects of the history of democracy further shows the extent of its influence. The freedom of expression was invoked in disputes for fundamental rights such as religious toleration, while newspapers became official organs of parliaments - and other representative bodies - and the conduits of oppositional voices in battles of opinion that commanded the attention of growing publics. Newspapers linked state institutions with civic associations and political groups in ways that no other artifact was capable of replicating. The introduction of printing technology and the expansion of international markets also played important roles in the expansion of public communications, especially from the mid-19th century onwards.
The multifaceted uses of the press in public life can be seen, moreover, in the presence of the printed word in the themes of our project. Parliaments were the subject of much newspaper activity, as were the struggles for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery, while newspapers, books and pamphlets continued to be at the centre of transnational and trans-Atlantic circulation of ideas throughout the period under study. Given this active presence, the press was often a key factor in processes of democratisation and a key element to characterise the openness or repressiveness of a political regime. The consolidation of modern forms of democracy in Latin America by the late 19th and early 20th centuries owed much to the earlier experiences with the press, even as societies became more complex and public demands for individual rights were frequently louder.
Our project looks at the history of democracy and the press comparatively, across Latin American countries and regions, asking to what extent did the expansion of the press and the circulation of printed matter shape the relationship between representative institutions, civic associations, and political participation in Latin America during the first century after independence, between 1810 and 1930.
We have organised a double panel discussing democracy and the press in the 2024 Annual Conference of the Latin American Studies Association that took place in Bogotá:
https://laghod.web.ox.ac.uk/event/democracy-print-culture-and-public-sphere-latin-america-1780-1920
Image credit:
José Agustín Arrieta, Tertulia de pulquería, 1851
Oleo / tela, 95 x 115 cm, AA004
Colección Andrés Blaisten, México
https://museoblaisten.com/Obra/1643/Tertulia-de-pulquer-a
