Expanding the Public Sphere through Computer ... - ResearchGate

CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS, CONVERSATION AND DEMOCRACY 9
This thesis is an analysis of an emerging kind of political talk or discourse: that
which takes place over a computer network. More specifically, it is a case study of
the conversation about abortion that took place within a Usenet newsgroup over
the course of one year. It tests the hypothesis that the newly emergent form of
discourse fostered by computer mediated discussion provides an opportunity to
revitalize the public sphere in a manner consistent with the goals of participatory
democracy. The hypothesis is tested through an analysis of the Usenet newsgroup
talk.abortion over the course of a one year period, with a focus on the conversational
arena created by the discussion. The thesis is presented in seven chapters:
This chapter provides a contextual introduction to the notion of a newsgroup
and discusses the role of political conversation in democratic theory.
Chapter 2 uses the concept of the public sphere concept to provide an organizing
framework for the project.
Chapter 3 explores the relationship between communication technology and
the shape of the public sphere, with particular emphasis on technologies enabling
computer-mediated discussion, and traces the emergence of Usenet,
the largest system of computer-mediated discussion groups in the world.
Chapter 4 reviews the political history of abortion in the United States, and
examines trends in the public discussion of abortion.
Chapter 5 proposes a method of assessing computer-mediated discussion in
the context of the public sphere concept, and details procedures and methods
of analysis.
Chapter 6 analyzes the conversational arena created by the participants in
the talk.abortion newsgroup during the study period.
Chapter 7 draws conclusions about the nature of the public sphere created
by the participants in talk.abortion.
The next section of this chapter provides a contextual introduction to the nature of
computer-mediated discourse, while section 1.2 on page 11 examines the role of
discussion in a democracy.