This article contains reflections on the further structural transformation of the public sphere, building on the author’s widely-discussed social-historical study, The Structural Transformation of ...the Public Sphere, which originally appeared in German in 1962 (English translation 1989). The first three sections contain preliminary theoretical reflections on the relationship between normative and empirical theory, the deliberative understanding of democracy, and the demanding preconditions of the stability of democratic societies under conditions of capitalism. The fourth section turns to the implications of digitalisation for the account of the role of the media in the public sphere developed in the original work, specifically to how it is leading to the expansion and fragmentation of the public sphere and is turning all participants into potential authors. The following section presents empirical data from German studies which shows that the rapid expansion of digital media is leading to a marked diminution of the role of the classical print media. The article concludes with observations on the threats that these developments pose for the traditional role of the public sphere in discursive opinion and will formation in democracies.
Can the process of European unification lead to a form of democracy that is at once supranational and situated above the organisational level of a state? The supranational federation should be ...constructed in such a way that the heterarchical relationship between the Member States and the federation remains intact. The author finds the basis for such an order in the idea of the EU constituted by a 'doubled' sovereign-the European citizens and the European peoples (the States). In order to sustain such an order, reforms of the existing European treaties are needed. It is necessary to eliminate the legitimation deficits of the EU in a future Euro-Union-that is, a more closely integrated core Europe. The European Parliament would have to gain the right to take legislative initiatives, and the so-called 'ordinary legislative procedure', which requires the approval of both chambers, would have to be extended to all policy fields.
In the European Parliament seats are distributed according to a principle of degressive proportionality that privileges smaller member states. While serving the principle of state equality, this ...arrangement seems to violate the principle of citizen equality. In this article, I consider whether a deviation from the equal representation of citizens can be justified in the context of a supranational political community. The main thesis is that the conflict between citizen and state equality can be dissolved if we understand the European Union as based on a pouvoir constituant mixte. Today, each European finds herself in a dual role as an EU citizen and a state citizen. While the member state peoples strive for supranational democracy, they have an interest in preserving their domestic structures of self‐government. Thus, the rules of representation in the EP can be reconstructed as an expression of the legitimate will of a dual constituent subject.
This article is part of the March 2017 Symposium titled ‘The EU's Pouvoir Constituant Mixte’, which also includes The EU's Pouvoir Constituant Mixte ‐ Exploring the Systematic Potential of an Innovative Category by Markus Patberg (DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12516), The ‘Mixed’ Constituent Legitimacy of the European Federation by Peter Niesen (DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12518), The European Parliament as a Forum of National Interest? A Transnationalist Critique of Jürgen Habermas' Reconstruction of Degressive Proportionality by Jelena von Achenbach (DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12519), The Levelling Up of Constituent Power in the European Union by Markus Patberg (DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12520) and Divided Sovereignty, Nation and Legal Community by Klaus Günther (DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12521)
Ever since Hegel highlighted the difference between morality and ethical life or ‘Sittlichkeit’, philosophical discourse concerning morality and law in the traditions that developed subsequently, up ...to and including the Frankfurt School, has oscillated between those poles. This paper opens with a short exposition of autonomy as one of the few large‐scale innovations in the history of philosophy and proceeds to discuss Hegel's concept of ethical life and the objections that can be raised against it from a Kantian point of view. Political theory, however, has to move beyond pure normativism and consider actual social relations of power, as Marx disclosed. Tracing this winding trajectory from Kant to Marx provides some perspective that may be illuminating concerning present‐day challenges.
Religion in the Public Sphere Habermas, Jürgen
European journal of philosophy,
April 2006, Letnik:
14, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In the light of the new political importance gained by religious traditions in recent years, addresses the debate that has arisen in the wake of John Rawls's political theory, especially his concept ...of the "public use of reason" and how this links with the ethics of citizenship. Discusses the questions of the constitutional separation of church and state, and the influence of this on the role of religion in civil society and politics; and the relationships between liberalism, secularism and religion.
The crisis of the European Union showcases the asymmetry between transnational capacities for political action and social as well as economic forces unleashed at the transnational level. But ...recovering the regulatory power of politics by way of increased supranational organization frequently arouses fears about the fate of national democracy and of the democratic sovereign threatened to be dispossessed by executive powers operating independently at the global level. Against such political defeatism this contribution takes the example of the European Union to refute the underlying claim that a transnationalization of popular sovereignty cannot be achieved without lowering the level of democratic legitimation. It focuses on three components of every democratic polity -- the association of free and equal legal persons, a bureaucratic organization for collective action, and civic solidarity as a medium of political integration -- to argue that the new configuration they take at the European level, when compared with the context of the nation-state, does not in principle diminish the democratic legitimacy of the new transnational polity. The contribution continues to argue, however, that the sharing of sovereignty between the peoples and citizens of Europe needs to be better reflected in symmetry between Council and Parliament while political leadership and the media must contribute to a greater sense of civil solidarity. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The book of world-known German philosopher Jurgen Habermas is devoted to the Marxist social theory and in general to potential of the evolutionary concept of society. A wide range of topics is ...comprised: from the role of philosophy inMarxism and rational and ethical foundations of social identity to comparative theories and problem of legitimacy. J.Habermas does not only critically rethink Marxist concept, but builds a coherent theoretical alternative to it. The power of the book is that the key problems of social theory are considered not only in the abstract plane but in the context of contemporary, keen, topical socio-political challenges. Namely the nature of current social crises, conflicts of legitimation ofthe contemporary state, the morality of power, the effect of innovations etc. The book has become not only one of the classical samples of Marxism analysis, but it was recognized significant contribution to contemporary social theory.
Argues that further development of the European Union requires both a mobilising political project - positively differentiating the Old World from the New - and a formal Constitution, submitted to a ...popular referendum. (Original abstract)
The book of world-known German philosopher Jurgen Habermas is devoted to the Marxist social theory and in general to potential of the evolutionary concept of society. A wide range of topics is ...comprised: from the role of philosophy in Marxism and rational and ethical foundations of social identity to comparative theories and problem of legitimacy. J.Habermas does not only critically rethink Marxist concept, but builds a coherent theoretical alternative to it. The power of the book is that the key problems of social theory are considered not only in the abstract plane, but in the context of contemporary, keen, topical socio-political challenges. Namely the nature of current social crises, conflicts of legitimation of the contemporary state, the morality of power, the effect of innovations etc. The book has become not only one of the classical samples of Marxism analysis, but it was recognized significant contribution to contemporary social theory.
Toward a cosmopolitan Europe Habermas, Jurgen
Journal of democracy,
10/2003, Letnik:
14, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
As the European Union (EU) continues its political integration, the author argues for the development of a more cosmopolitan Europe. After exploring the question of whether the democratic ...self-direction of modern capitalistic societies can be extended beyond national borders, the author argues that the symbiosis between nation-states & democracy has come under increased pressure because of market globalization. There have been four political responses to the challenges of the postnational constellation -- neoliberalism, protectionism, or a "third way" expressed either by governments adopting social policies to help their citizens to be qualified & competitive, or by giving politics priority over the market, perhaps by creating a stable, democratic infrastructure for a global domestic policy. If Europe is to develop with a sensitivity for social justice for all countries worldwide, then the federal aspect of the EU must be deepened to allow a cosmopolitan goal of creating the conditions necessary for such a global domestic policy. L. A. Hoffman
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