ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses why the concept of the polis is crucial to our life as well as to the field of communication studies. It is demonstrated how the polis is, first and foremost, open space for communication and decision-making. It is shown how communication in the polis is not based only on the technical skills of persuasion, but also on the embodied ability to face a situation and other people and make decisions together with them. The nature and effects of dysfunctional and destructive communication in the polis are also examined. The chapter shows how the classic polis turns into a more abstract public sphere where communication is mediated through various technologies, institutions and structures.
