Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2021

Publication Title

Political Studies

Volume

69

Issue

1

Pages

26-44

Publisher Name

Sage Publications

Abstract

Deliberative democracy requires both equality and difference, with structures that organize a cohesive public while still accommodating the unique perspectives of each participant. While institutions like laws and norms can help to provide this balance, the built environment also plays a role supporting democratic politics—both on- and off-line. In this article, I use the work of Hannah Arendt to articulate two characteristics the built environment needs to support democratic politics: it must (1) serves as a common world, drawing users together and emphasizing their common interests and must also (2) preserve spaces of appearance, accommodating diverse perspectives and inviting disagreement. I, then, turn to the example of Facebook to show how these characteristics can be used as criteria for evaluating how well a particular digital platform supports democratic politics and providing alternative mechanisms these sites might use to fulfill their role as a public realm.

Comments

Author Posting © Sage Publishing, 2023. This is the author's accepted version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the Sage Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was accepted and published in Political Studies, Volume 69, Issue 1, February 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719890807

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