Expanding the Public Sphere through Computer ... - ResearchGate

CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS, CONVERSATION AND DEMOCRACY 12
themselves as members of a community, with an obligation to actively participate
in its public affairs. They may be encouraged to discover that their own
private interests are interdependent with others’ interests, and will potentially be
able to integrate their private goals into public policies. This vision of democracy
is expressed in the classical works of Aristotle and Rousseau, and modern
interpretations by theorists such as Pateman (1970), Barber (1984) and Mansbridge
(1983). If, on the other hand, opportunities for and engagements in political
conversation are absent, individuals will be restricted in their “deliberations”
to considering only their own preferences and values in reaching conclusions on
important issues, will be unable to consider the preferences and values of others,
and will not recognize the interests they have in common with their fellow citizens
(Mill 1859, Stanley 1983, Barber 1984, Stanley 1988).
Because participation in political discussion makes a crucial contribution to the
development of a strong and positive democratic political identity, we should
take seriously critical analyses reporting declines in the ability of and opportunities
for citizens do so. Individuals who view themselves as having an important
role to play in the political community; who take seriously the concept of selfgovernment
and believe that the social contract is not only necessary but beneficial;
and who believe that their concerns are at the least given voice, and perhaps
even satisfaction, have the capacity to become public-regarding citizens in a
democracy. A necessary condition for the development of a strong and positive
democratic political identity is the ability to talk about politics with others (Pitkin
& Shumer 1982, Stanley 1983, Barber 1984, Stanley 1988, Gamson 1992). People
who can talk with one another have the potential for understanding, for empathy
and for the identification of interests common to all (Barber 1984). Political
discussion, then, is a fundamental building-block upon which public-regarding
citizenship in a democracy is constructed. If the critics are correct, the decline
of opportunities for political discussion may provide a partial explanation for the
apparent decay of democratic values, and an obvious prescription for their revival.
If skills and opportunities for political discussion were increased, we would expect
to see a corresponding increase in the presence of individuals with positive
democratic values willing and able to participate as citizens in a democracy.
The primary opportunity to converse with citizens is found in those places called
“associational space;” encompassing the “core settings of informal public life”
(Oldenburg 1989). Oldenburg (1989) and Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler &
Tipton (1991) have identified the scarcity of associational space as one of the
primary ills facing our polity. Create new settings for public interaction and pub-