The Capacity to Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada, 1791-1854

Huntzicker, William E., Journalism History

McNairn, Jeffrey L. The Capacity to Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada, 1791-1854. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000.460 pp. $75.

Jeffrey McNairn begins this study of public opinion in Upper Canada with an excerpt from an anonymous mechanic in the British Whig newspaper criticizing a Kingston town leader in 1834. Noting he wrote on behalf of fellow mechanics, he said, "We are as capable of judging on a point which concerns our interests, either as citizens or mechanics, as well as he; we will not be led by the nose, by any interested set of men." This illustrates how quickly the elites lost the deference of the public in Canada in the early …

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Publication information: Article title: The Capacity to Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada, 1791-1854. Contributors: Huntzicker, William E. - Author. Journal title: Journalism History. Volume: 27. Issue: 3 Publication date: Fall 2001. Page number: 142+. © Journalism History Winter 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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