Project: RECLAIM

Authors: Maximilian Conrad and Saul Newman

The article discusses the state of the public sphere in Europe in the context of concerns over a possible fragmentation brought about by presumably increasing ideological and affective polarization in European societies. If confirmed, such a fragmentation of the public sphere would be detrimental to the functioning of democratic deliberation in European representative democracies and could constitute an important ingredient in the further development of post-truth political cultures. The fragmentation of the public sphere is here understood as the process through which the public sphere gradually loses its status as a shared and inclusive communicative space for deliberation on matters of public concern and is replaced by a multitude of competing semi-public spheres of the likeminded. To evaluate claims about such a fragmentation, we analyze available data on the development of media consumption and trust in media at the European and national levels. Our analysis shows that despite certain concerning developments, many European public spheres are still integrated around key leading media. However, developments in recent years also highlight a need for political theorists to reflect on ways to reinvigorate the public sphere beyond the level of deliberation in the forums of the mass media.