The article focuses on the development of terms which were used in antiquity and Middle Age Europe to denote public opinion ( fama, existimatio, opinio in Ancient Rome, fama publica, communis opinio in the Middle Ages etc.). Particular attention is paid to the distinction made in Roman public life between a fama, which represented common opinion, and a rumor, which meant undervalued and unreliable opinion of the plebs. The medieval term rumor fama, more often fama publica, referred to a local information network or mechanism of collective evaluation of individuals’ esteem. It was also an impor- tant part of court proceedings. Both historic eras were concerned with rumor in today’s sense of the word, which often comprised or underlaid common opinion., Kateřina Soukalová., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The presented paper tries to interpret the campaign before the Czech presidential election in 2013 from the perspective of Je rey Alexander’s performative theory. It argues that the process of preference formation cannot be completely explained on the basis of rational interests of the voters, media or socioeconomic strata. On the contrary, the paper based in durkheimian paradigm argues for the importance of collective emotions. The campaign is understood here as a sequence of performative acts in which the candidates, understood as collective representations, try to associate themselves with emotions of the voters. The performance in Alexander’s perspective takes place in the civil sphere formed by the cultural code with binary structure of the democratic and antidemocratic side. In this perspective the case of Czech presidential campaign will be shown with the focus on the unexpected advancement of Karel Schwarzenberg to the second round of the election., Vít Horák., and Obsahuje seznam literatury