Mediation, Internet and the public sphere

Abstract

The concept of public sphere is a key element on the studies of deliberation and political participation process. Habermas stills a fundamental author of the notion of public sphere, however, in the context of Information Society it is important to review these concept under the light of the Communication Studies. Regarding that, this project aims to better understand the concept of the internet as a complementary public sphere and relate the Fraser's (1990) concept of weak and strong publics to the on-line mediated participation. These studies will be based on the bibliographical research method and the researcher will also participate in the class "Médiation et sphère publique" to be conducted at the Université du Québec a Tróis-Rivières, Canada. The theoretical achievement of this research will reinforced and give enlarged view to the research project "Deliberação e participação política na sociedade da informação: o potencial do website Vote na Web", because, to better understand the potential of the internet to deliberation and political participation, it is essential to review the concepts and the relations between mediation and public sphere. (AU)