The Public Sphere

The Public Sphere
The Public Sphere promises the inclusion of the public in common decision-making and opinion formation by meeting in a public forum. Some examples of the public forums where these meetings can occur are coffee shops, bars, and salons, yet Habermas states that the public sphere can emerge at anytime. These meetings can be spontaneous and must take place outside the realm of the State and Market. By outside the state, this means that these meetings must not have influence form the state, such as media opinions, which tend to be controlled by the corporations, which coincide with the state. Although the media can provide a background on current events which is much needed while discussing these issues, which can be a problem towards the poor who might not have a means of obtaining information on current events. These meetings allow strangers t...