In the modem democratic State, law and public opinion are closely related to political phenomena. Historically speaking, in the past, law was not influenced by public opinion, for the simple reason that there was no public and therefore no opinion. In modem times, public opinion has become a great force in the making and changing of law. In the past, laws were imposed from above, that is, by kings, but in the present times, they evolve from below, that is, from the people.
As we said above, legislature is at present the most important source of law. The legislature or the law making organ of the State is the storm-centre of public opinion, where it is transformed into legislative acts or laws. In fact, public opinion, as expressed through elections, the press and the majority party or parties in the legislature and government, is the most important force in the legislative process.
But the existing body of laws, in its turn, also influences public opinion. Law is a technique of social control. It, therefore, prevents certain kinds of opinions from being expressed, by condemning them as subversive or otherwise declaring them illegal or by channelling the expression of other kinds of opinion into certain legally recognised modes and manners. TTiis is truer in a democracy than in a dictatorship, where public opinion is moulded by outright repression and prohibition rather than by channelling it into desired ways and directions. Anyhow, public opinion is greatly determined by the existing laws. In a truly democratic State, the relationship between law and public opinion always remains a two-way traffic and does not become one-way street, as it is under dictatorship.