ABSTRACT
Public spheres today are predicated on mediated civic engagement. Politics in these robust Republican horizons is seen as something much broader than just parliamentarian conflicts; indeed, Chantal Mouffe, a major theorist in this context, argues for the notion of ‘the political’. The notion of the public sphere has been of immense importance in conceptualising the relationships between media, politics and the dynamics of democracy. The basic elements and logic remain, however: the political public sphere is normatively seen as composed of the institutional communicative spaces, universally accessible, that facilitate the formation of discussion and public opinion, via the unfettered flow of relevant information and ideas. Public spheres thus can be seen as a vast array of interactional constellations; some are relatively more permanent, others more fleeting.
