ABSTRACT
From a deliberative point of view, any analysis of political discourse is ultimately tied to ‘the question of whether, and to what extent, a public sphere dominated by mass media provides a realistic chance for the members of civil society, in their competition with the political and economic invaders’ power, to bring about changes in the spectrum of values, topics, and reasons channelled by external influences, to open it up in an innovative way, and to screen it critically’ (Habermas, 1992, p. 455). While our study cannot provide answers to all of these questions, we will examine some of the most central factors that shape the deliberative quality of political discourse by comparing, on the one hand, the two most prevalent public sphere types, and by assessing, on the other hand, the effect of different deliberative coalitions.
