"Public opinion does not change this fast in free societies. Either opinion is not changing as fast as it appears to be, or society is not as free."

"Public opinion does not change this fast in free societies. Either opinion is not changing as fast as it appears to be, or society is not as free."

     Christopher Caldwell, 2013.

"the most absolute monarchs in Europe cannot prevent certain opinions [(pensées)] hostile to their authority from circulating in secret throughout their dominions and even in their courts.  It is not so in America; as long as the majority is still undecided, discussion is carried on [(on parle)]; but as soon as its decision is irrevocably pronounced, everyone is silent [(chacun se tait)], and the friends as well as the opponents of the measure unite in assenting to its propriety. . . .
     "The authority of a king is physical [(matérielle)] and controls the actions of men without subduing their will.  But the majority possesses a power that is physical and moral [(matérielle et morale)] at the same time, which acts upon the will as much as upon the actions and represses not only all contest but all controversy [(le fait et le désir de faire)].
     "I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion [(indépendance d'esprit et de véritable libérté de discussion)] as in America."

     Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America I.xv =vol. II, chap. vii, sec. 5, p. 142 in the 12th ed. of 1848 ("Unlimited power of the majority in America, and its consequences"), trans. Reeve, Bowen, & Bradley.  Cf. "I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear in the world [(Je veux imaginer sous quels traits nouveaux le despotisme pourrait se produire dans le monde)]" (II.iv.6; Pleiade, p. 836).

"freedom of opinion does not exist in America."

     Ibid., p. 265.

     Cf. this passage.