The Problematic Public - Kristian Bjrkdahl

Almost One Hundred Years Have Passed Since Walter Lippmann And John Dewey Published Their Famous Reflections On The Problems Of The Public, But Their Thoughts Remain Surprisingly Relevant As Resources For Thinking Through Our Current Crisis-plagued Predicament. This Book Takes Stock Of The Reception History Of Lippmann's And Dewey's Ideas About Publics, Communication, And Political Decision-making And Shows How Their Ideas Can Inspire A Way Forward.lippmann And Dewey Were Only Two Of Many Twentieth-century Thinkers Trying To Imagine How A Modern Industrial Democracy Might (or Might Not) Come To Pass, But Despite That, The Lippmanndewey Debate Became A Symbol Of The Two Alleged Options: An Epistocracy, On The One Hand, And Grassroots Participation, On The Other. In This Book, Distinguished Scholars From Rhetoric, Communication, Sociology, And Media And Journalism Studies Reconsider This Debate In Order To Assess Its Contemporary Relevance For Our Time, Which, In Some Respects, Bears A Striking Resemblance To The 1920s.