Democracy and the public sphere : from dystopia back to utopia

The malfunctions of the contemporary media and the public sphere and its disruptive effects on democracy, social order and individual well-being are among the most popular and controversial topics in political communication research. How imminent is the threat of the end of democracy, what empirical evidence can be found to support the claim that democracy is under threat, and how can democracy be restored? Discussing these topics in the transformation of contemporary democracies leads the author to an exploration of the changing landscapes of media and public communication, and the creative and destructive ways individuals and social groups make use of new digital and social media in democratic politics. The book seeks to advance a critical theory of the public sphere in the digital age. It provides the reader with a thorough analysis of contemporary transformations of the public sphere and the media, picking up on several challenges, among them the digital transformation of the public sphere and the struggle over privacy and data security, the populist backlash against liberal values, the struggle over democratic representation and the phenomenon of post-truth politics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author collects supporting evidence for the thesis of a decline in democracy but avoids jumping to conclusions regarding the end of democracy, instead arguing that the future of democracy depends on the viability of the public sphere as we enter the new digital age.