T HE CHALLENGE OF A E UROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE : D ELIBERATION AND THE ROLE OF ICT S. Dr. Georgios Papanagnou

- W HAT IS A EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE ? It is a discursive space in which individuals and groups congregate to discuss matters of public interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment. It is political participation through the medium of talk. And where public opinion is formed. It is a space for debating and deliberating. Making argument for or against policy choices.

Public sphere not only about communication but has a deliberative quality. Leading to will formation. The discourse of actively participating citizens is the backing of political decision making in the representative system, as the citizenry provides the political institutions with ideas, interests and demands that have to be taken into consideration in the political process.

W HY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR EUROPE ? Perceived democratic deficit of the EU. Democratic legitimacy requires procedures of control and participation. Policy makers need to legitimize their policy to the publics. Open policy making to society. European issues are presented from a national perspective by mass media. Crisis of representative democracy: mistrust, disengagement.

OBSTACLES No common civil society and identity. No common language. No common media.

CHALLENGES Citizenship is ‘an ongoing communicative achievement’. (Bora et al. 2001) Develop notions of EU citizenship via transational deliberation and interaction. Address crisis of representative democracy via the deliberative quality of the public sphere. Instill greater degrees of participation in policy making.

T HE ROLE OF ICTS IN BUILDING THE PUBLIC SPHERE The Internet makes possible involving large numbers of users in a deliberation. The Internet provides relatively inexpensive public access to retrievable data. By making it easier for individuals to find and follow what concerns them personally, we open the door to political engagement to virtually everyone. The Internet facilitates lateral, peer-to-peer and many-to-many interactive exchange. People discuss issues over a period of hours, days, weeks or months in an asynchronous fashion. Time for reflective debate and the space to develop evidence and argumentation. Participation open to all. Online discussion in language closer to ordinary people. Participants encounter new sources of information and new ways of thinking about issues. (Coleman and Blumler 2009: 12-13).

1. The internet supports a transnational space for political communication. 2. It is an interactive means of an emerging global civil society. 3. Diverse forms of transnational political ids. might emerge from issue related political communities.

T OWARDS A EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE : E - DELIBERATION. The new information technologies may, for the first time in the history of industrial societies under liberal regimes, make it possible to recreate the perfect information arena, the agora of Ancient Greece. (European Information Society Forum Report 1999). Not simply collect information. But deliberate, debate. Engage citizens in political participation. Hence, participatory policy making. Establish influence of deliberation over policy. Otherwise, communication, talk, and representation of interests will not overcome the pitfals of the democratic deficit. Or of representative democracy. Nor would we make great steps towards citizenship building.