The Public Sphere

Image from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/america-bubbles/514385/

The idea of a public is essential to a democracy. Specifically, the public is a space where citizens can discuss what the government should do, reach conclusions, and then hold the government accountable. The idea of the public has been key to democratic governance since people first decided to take seriously the need to keep rulers from having unchecked power in society. This public can include what, in the US, are government institutions such as Congress and the Judicial court cases. It can also include civil society organizations that attempt to influence how government processes work. People have even explored how the interactions of people in public spaces like bars, cafes, barber shops, and social media have an indirect influence on how the government operates (or doesn’t).

However, identifying what public spaces are does address the more complicated question of how people should behave there. What kind of discussions should or should not be allowed there? Can people discuss politics? Religion? Sex? Money? If so, are their social norms on how such topics can be discussed? These topics are generally urged to not be discussed in polite company because such topics can only lead to disagreement. Yet, an argument can be made that not discussing them is in fact what is leading to broader conflict in society, precisely because no one understand what or how other people actually think. 

Public conversation in the US has been turned into a number of echo chambers. People surround themselves by those who agree with them. According to a poll conducted by the Washington Post during the 2016 Presidential election campaigns, over half of the people who supported either Clinton or Trump said that they knew of no friends or family who supported the other candidate. When people in society who are different are unable to have a conversation with each other, is it no surprise that the US government does not function properly?

What can people do to better understand those who are different? What is already being done?