The Vanishing Square: Civic Learning in the Internet Age.

Area of Science:

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Public Policy

Background:

• Nation-states face declining political legitimacy due to porous borders and transnational threats like pandemics, climate change, and cybercrime.
• Increased internet penetration raises concerns about citizen capacity for informed decision-making and accountability.
• Existing democratic structures struggle to address complex, cross-border challenges effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the primary threat to contemporary democracy.
• To propose a new framework for democratic deliberation and self-rule.
• To advocate for the reconstitution of public spaces for informed citizen judgment.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of democratic theory and contemporary political challenges.
• Examination of the relationship between public deliberation, epistemic competence, and state legitimacy.
• Argumentative synthesis of threats to self-rule and potential solutions.

Main Results:

• The erosion of deliberative practices, rather than public epistemic incompetence, poses the main threat to democracy.
• Transnational flows of information, finance, and people challenge traditional state sovereignty and expert authority.
• Current democratic models require radical reimagining to foster effective self-rule.

Conclusions:

• Reconstituting a public square that facilitates informed, epistemically competent deliberation is crucial for democratic resilience.
• Strengthening deliberative practices is essential for citizens to hold rulers accountable in the face of complex global challenges.
• A reimagined public sphere is necessary to safeguard democratic legitimacy and self-governance.