Critical Analysis 1-Emergence of the Public Sphere

Habermas’ theory of the public sphere, which is the idea that anyone or anything affects the masses, has changed and developed throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

When considering this idea it is important to understand the main approaches to political economy, which include; Liberal, Marxist, Realistic/Pragmatic and the Constructivist.

The Liberal approach is divided between the legislative and the executive, and points out that power seems to reside with the upper classes.

Marxism emphasises the class based struggle and states that whoever controls production has power.

The Realistic/Pragmatic approach is essentially an anarchy of self-interest in pursuit of resources.

Constructivist is a critique of ‘realpolitik’, which refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions.

These ideas, amongst others, came about alongside European revolutions. People became richer through trading abroad, and whilst having more money to spend, needed information and advice on how their stock was doing. This is how news sheets came about as gossip went from word of mouth to print. Fashion news and other subjects started to emerge in these news sheets, and with these richer people (soon to become the middle classes) came the emergence of newspapers and magazines. From this came the birth of the term ‘the fourth estate’.

Through this emergence of the public sphere came the rise of the radical press. In 1791, Thomas Paine published ‘The Rights of Man’ in response to the French Revolution; it started the up rise of the radical press, effectively an alternative to the official (parliamentary) sources of information. As economic sanctions, such as stamp duty rising 266% between 1789 and 1815, became overtly politically repressive, it became counterproductive in the long term. When the libel act was introduced in 1843 the authorities relied much more on taxation and bonds but the radical press continued to expand.