Open access
PUBLIC DISCOURSE AS A SUBSTITUTE TO POLITICAL REPRESENTATION – A PARAINSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION OF CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACY
Wiktor SZEWCZAK1
Information - Communication - Politics
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1-2 (76-77) 2013, Publication date: 30 May 2013
Abstract Representation has been one of the foundations of democratic systems throughout the ages. Since the invention of indirect democracy these two phenomena have been closely related. In the article, a traditional model of political representation is examined, and it is stated that it no longer provides a good explanation of functioning modern democratic systems. As the context of contemporary politics changes, so social systems grow more complex, fickle, instable and fuzzy. It is no longer possible to provide the function of representation by traditional means. Therefore, a new model of representation arose in modern democracies, deriving from public discourse. The issue of the article is to examine this new model of representation. As in traditional models both sides of the relation of representation were mutually observed through transparent media, now the subject of observation is media and discourse itself. This brings journalists and media experts to the foreground, who become more and more important sources of quasi-representation in contemporary democracies. The whole process and its main consequences to democratic theory are examined.
Katedra Teorii Polityki, Wydział Politologii i Studiów Miedzynarodowych Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu
E-mail: szewczak@umk.pl