现代理论家们告诉我们，公共舆论不一定产生民主美德，理性个体对个人利益的追 求也不一定导向公共福祉，这成为边沁为人所诟病的缘由。但是如果回到边沁所处的时 代，我们可以发现这些论断忽视了边沁的舆论思想与其民主理论的关联。边沁认为：民 主价值不仅体现在一人一票的选举制度中，还体现在更广泛的政府活动中。与多数暴政 和舆论专制相比，能否建设一个对人民负责的好政府才是决定民主成功的关键；公共舆 论就是在选举制度之外确保统治者对被统治者负责的最重要的手段，其运作蕴含在公共 舆论法庭这一机构之中：即通过对政府信息的审查压力来对统治者滥用权力进行道德制 裁，使之成为实现共同体福祉的最重要的社会力量。

Modern theorists keep telling us that public opinion does not necessarily lead to democratic virtues. The pursuit of personal interests by rational individuals does not necessarily lead to common good. This has become the reason why Bentham is criticized by others. However, if we return to the era of Bentham, we can find that these thesis ignore the connection between Bentham's idology of public opinion and his democratic theory. Bentham believes that the value of democracy is not only re?ected in the one-person, one-vote election system, but also in the broader government activities. Compared with majority tyranny and public opinion autocracy, whether to build a good government responsible for the people is the key to determining the success of democracy; public opinion is the most important means to ensure that the ruler is responsible to the ruled outside the electoral system, whose operation is embedded in the public opinion tribunal:That is, moral sactions are imposed on the abuse of power by the ruler through the check of government information, making it the most important social force to achieve the common good.