Creating Public Spheres

Dafydd Huw Rees (Cardiff University)

Theories of deliberative democracy focus on the importance of a functioning public sphere in legitimating political institutions and outcomes. An accessible and healthy public sphere is taken to be a vital component of a flourishing democracy. Theorists in this field have written a great deal about the phenomenon of dysfunctional public spheres, in which legitimate democratic outcomes are impaired by factors such as political and economic influence, misinformation, systematic exclusion of marginalized voices, and lack of critical rational discourse. In all these cases, an existing public sphere does not function as it should. On the other hand, instances of absent public spheres, when a polity does not have a corresponding public sphere at all, and thus suffers legitimation deficits, have been less remarked upon by theorists. One example is Jürgen Habermas’s account of the lack of a European public sphere, which he argues partly undermines the political legitimacy of EU institutions and policies. Further examples of absent public spheres could be added, e.g. in the case of colonial or postcolonial societies, semi-autonomous nations and regions, and newly-independent states.     

It is natural to assume that in the absence of a public sphere, steps should be taken to create one. Various steps have been proposed, by Habermas and other theorists of deliberative democracy, ranging from policy solutions such as subsides and tax-breaks for media outlets, to more directly democratic mechanisms such as mini-publics and citizens’ juries. However, the philosophical questions around creating new public spheres, rather than enhancing existing ones, have been little explored. This workshop will explore various issues connected to the phenomenon of absent public spheres, and the questions around actions taken to create new ones. These questions may include:  

• What do we mean by an absent public sphere? How does this differ from a merely dysfunctional public sphere?
• What historical, economic, geographical, and political factors might account for a polity lacking a public sphere of its own?
• Given the “deterritorialized” nature of contemporary public spheres, does it still make sense to speak in these terms?
• How do actions taken to create new public spheres differ from actions taken to enhance existing public spheres, if at all?
• Is political action taken to create public spheres in violation of liberal principles of non-interference and freedom of speech?
• Since a functioning public sphere is a necessary condition for political legitimacy, it seems that actions taken to create public spheres must be illegitimate – a potential bootstrapping problem. Does this make such actions impermissible?
• How do these issues play out differently at the global, national, and sub-national levels?