Books by Walter Lippmann

Public Opinion is Walter Lippmann's groundbreaking work which demonstrates how individual beliefs are swayed by stereotypes, the mass media, and political propaganda.The book opens with the notion that democracy in the age of super fast communications is obsolete. He analyses the impact of several phenomena, such as the radio and newspapers, to support his criticisms of the sociopolitical situation as it stands. He famously coins the term 'manufactured consent', for the fomenting of views which ultimately work against the interests of those who hold them. Lippmann contends that owing to the masses of information flung at the population on a daily basis, opinions regarding entire groups in society are being reduced to simple stereotypes. The actual complexity and nuance of life, Lippmann contends, is undermined by the ever-faster modes of communication appearing regularly. News by nature presents or emphasizes only some of the facts.

Public Opinion is Walter Lippmann's groundbreaking work which demonstrates how individual beliefs are swayed by stereotypes, the mass media, and political propaganda.The book opens with the notion that democracy in the age of super fast communications is obsolete. He analyses the impact of several phenomena, such as the radio and newspapers, to support his criticisms of the sociopolitical situation as it stands. He famously coins the term 'manufactured consent', for the fomenting of views which ultimately work against the interests of those who hold them. Lippmann contends that owing to the masses of information flung at the population on a daily basis, opinions regarding entire groups in society are being reduced to simple stereotypes. The actual complexity and nuance of life, Lippmann contends, is undermined by the ever-faster modes of communication appearing regularly.

Walter Lippmann wrote his "Public Opinion" at a time when something like the 'mass media' was coming into existence. Prior to the age of electronic communication, the only mechanism for reaching large numbers of individuals was the newspapers. In World War I, he saw how opportunistic nations used the newspapers to serve their often nefarious aims. Lippmann, however, believed that in the hands of super-intelligent, disinterested, omni-benevelont 'experts,' the 'mass media' could bring about world peace. The school system, the advent of radio, and of course, the television, were arriving or coming along shortly. Each allowed a small group of people the ability to manage a much larger group, inspiring optimism among liberals and progressives that with the right forumula, the horrors seen in World War I would never occur again.Lippmann wrote "Public Opinion" in 1922, shortly after World War I. In 1924, a certain Adolf Hitler would be spending time in jail. If this merited any mention in any newspaper, it is doubtful that no expert paid it any mind. 1939 was, after all, a long way off.

American Inquisitors is one of the small gems among Walter Lippmann's larger books

Examines the relation of power to knowledge. This title concludes that it is not possible to discover by rational inquiry the conditions that must be met if there is to be a good society.

Walter Lippmann is arguably the most influential journalist in American history. This work is a result of his assignment by Wilson's Secretary of War Baker, to a project for studying possible terms of peace and ways to influence the world in a liberal-democratic direction. It ends with an admiration for the peaceful nature of democracies.

In Public Opinion, what is widely considered the most influential book ever written by Walter Lippmann, the late journalist and social critic provides a fundamental treatise on the nature of human information and communication.Public Opinion is Walter Lippmann's is of enduring significance for communications scholars, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.

Walter Lippmann is arguably the most influential journalist in American history

Begun in 1938 and completed only in 1955, The Public Philosophy offers as much a glimpse into the private philosophy of America's premier journalist of the twentieth century as it does a public philosophy

This set of brief pieces examines the relation of power to knowledge

American Inquisitors is one of the small gems among Walter Lippmann's larger books

The Good Society is a critical text in the history of liberalism

Arguing that there is a necessary connection between liberty and truth, this book excoriates the press, claiming that it exists primarily for its own purposes and agendas and only incidentally to promote the honest interplay of facts and ideas.

Lippmann argues "hopefully and wistfully" for rational inquiry into those conditions by which a good society may be reconstituted in order to halt the descent into violence and tyranny. He thinks there are world citizens who believe in the tenets of "the public philosophy", once basic to our democracy, and now almost forgotten. For action to this end there must be belief. And to recover this belief he explores the decline of the West- and the public philosophy. He has sensed the sickness of democracy, and the steps by which it was acquired, the extent to which it has threatened the public interest. In this process he studies the problem of the executive dominated by the legislative- concern of our founders, and of critics then and now. In the derangement of the primary functions of government he sees the democratic disaster of our century, an acceptance of the Jacobin doctrine of enfranchisement by displacement of the governing class. He feels that the democracies are ceasing to receive the traditions of civility, and are thereby cut off from a public philosophy. But he feels it still survives as a positive doctrine, that there still are obligations binding on all men:- the theory of property, freedom of speech, etc. Such a restoration as he envisions aims to resist and regulate desires and opinions - an unpopular program, but necessary to survival of democracy. He challenges our teachers to return to the great tradition. Not an easy book to read and digest. Perhaps Lippmann's name will spark the interest. (Kirkus Reviews)

In an era disgusted with politicians and the various instruments of "direct democracy," Walter Lippmann's The Phantom Public remains as relevant as ever