
The public sphere is normally considered to be a forum for democratic deliberation. It can serve many other uses, however, such as an arena for strategic communication, a space for identity formation or a ''showcase'' for celebrities. By bringing together researchers from political science, public administration, sociology and media studies, this book presents a comprehensive perspective on the transformation of the public sphere in the emerging network society. The book presents a series of theoretical and empirical contributions concerning current changes in political communication, participation, identity and the role of the media and journalists. Within a common framework of analysis, the individual chapters in the book cover a wide range of issues concerning the way political institutions, citizens, NGOs, firms and not least the media and journalists engage the public sphere, such as post-ideological politics, governance by performance and evaluation, transnationalisation, brandin