Keeping the Conversation Going: Voluntary Associations in the Public Sphere(S)

Abstract

While Jürgen Habermas claims the public sphere — and therefore democracy — is in a state of atrophy, other theorists claim that in recent decades there has been an overwhelming democratisation of our media. For many theorists who support Habermas's arguments, voluntary associations are best suited to reinvigorating a public sphere in decay. Indeed, Habermas himself claims voluntary associations are essential to a properly functioning, democratic public sphere. This paper presents some of the findings of recent research, which considered the facts on the ground and examined at close quarters the operations, activities and communicative structures of voluntary associations. As such, the paper argues against Habermas, contending first that, while less than perfect, the public sphere is essentially not in a state of atrophy, and second, this is due in part to the organisations Habermas valorises — voluntary associations — using the very media he so reviles — mass media.