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Overview

Jürgen Habermas is a German philosopher who developed the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. He traces the evolution of public sphere from its roots in Renaissance Italy to today’s society. His theory and history examines how we should define our role as citizens, what part media plays in democracy, and how it can help us understand our current problems.

In the introduction, Habermas tells us that in medieval times, most Western societies were controlled by kings. There was no such thing as a public sphere separate from state authority. However, over the course of the Renaissance and beyond, kings lost their monopoly over public life. This was due to mercantile capitalism and economies based on trade. As people began trading with each other directly instead of through the king’s economy, there emerged a public sphere where news could be shared freely between citizens without going through government channels first. Because it was associated with middle-class trade rather than working-class labor or noble-class aristocracy, Habermas calls this “bourgeois” society

As Habermas explains in Chapters 2 and 3, the bourgeois public sphere emerged to facilitate private citizens’ discussions of their affairs. Cafes and journals provided spaces where people could discuss things outside the control of government officials like kings or queens. These new forums were democratic because they didn’t care who said what–they only cared about the arguments being made. This is opposed to monarchies that are based on bloodlines, which means that some people had more power than others just by virtue of their birthright. The new public sphere also led to political demands from private citizens on their governments rather than vice versa as was common with feudalism.

In chapter 4, Habermas discusses the idea of a public sphere. He shows how philosophers such as Hobbes and Locke helped to develop a concept of the public. Kant developed this philosophy further by tying morality to legislation in his work on universalism. As Marx pointed out, however, this was impossible because bourgeois society would always be able to control what people thought about through their cultural dominance over other groups in society.

In the 1800s, there was a sphere of public debate where people could discuss issues and hold government accountable. However, as time went on, governments became more involved in economic affairs and started to control trade across international borders. This meant that the private sphere of individuals trading with each other was no longer separate from the state, thereby weakening the public sphere composed of those same individuals. In addition to this change in how people traded with one another, mass media like radio and television arose during the 20th century; these media were used by politicians to manipulate citizens rather than involve them in critical discussions about how their country should be run. Nowadays people consume “the illusion” of publicity via radio and television but are not actually partaking in any meaningful discussions about politics or holding government accountable for its actions; this situation needs to change if we want a revival of a public sphere that holds elected officials accountable for their decisions and policies. To fix this situation we need limits on government secrecy so that people can participate in open debates over political issues as well as find new forms of universal interest that unite all members (citizens) into one body/public space where they can openly exchange ideas without fear or threat from others who don’t agree with them politically (such as persecution).