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Expanding the Public Sphere through Computer ... - ResearchGate

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Chapter 1<br />

<strong>Computer</strong>s, Conversation and<br />

Democracy<br />

“Can we talk?”<br />

Comedian Joan Rivers got a lot a laughs with this line in <strong>the</strong> 1980s. But <strong>the</strong><br />

answer we get when applying this question to citizens in our democracy is no<br />

laughing matter. Increasingly, it seems, <strong>the</strong> answer is “no.” And <strong>the</strong>rein lies a serious<br />

problem for democracy. For a society composed of individuals who lack <strong>the</strong><br />

skills and opportunities to engage o<strong>the</strong>rs in discussions about public issues cannot<br />

long sustain itself as a democracy. The will of <strong>the</strong> community in a democracy<br />

is always created <strong>through</strong> a running discussion between majority and minority,<br />

<strong>through</strong> free consideration of arguments for and against a policy or idea. This<br />

discussion takes place not only in <strong>the</strong> formal institutions of government, but also<br />

in <strong>the</strong> informal settings of public life: political meetings, newspapers, books and<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r vehicles of public opinion. A democracy without public opinion is a contradiction<br />

in terms (Kelsen 1961, 287). “Democracy begins in conversation,” wrote<br />

John Dewey (Post 1993, 171). “There can be no strong democratic legitimacy<br />

without ongoing talk,” argues Benjamin Barber (1984, 174) . Bruce Agre (1989,<br />

6) agrees: “Dialogue as <strong>the</strong> first obligation of citizenship”. “Much of modern,<br />

democratic politics consists of talk” (Huspek & Kendall 1991, 1).<br />

8

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