Democracy and public space: the physical sites of democratic performance

This volume claims that the current fashion for online democracy risks undermining democracy's very foundations. Challenging the received academic wisdom, the author offers a compelling, new vision of democratic public space and assesses the success of 11 world cities in the light of it

This volume claims that the current fashion for online democracy risks undermining democracy's very foundations. Challenging the received academic wisdom, the author offers a compelling, new vision of democratic public space and assesses the success of 11 world cities in the light of it.

In an online, interconnected world, democracy is increasingly made up of wikis and blogs, pokes and tweets. Citizens have become accidental journalists thanks to their handheld devices, politicians are increasingly working online, and the traditional sites of democracy - assemblies, public galleries, and plazas - are becoming less and less relevant with every new technology. And yet, this book argues, such views are leading us to confuse the medium with the message, focusing on electronic transmission when often what cyber citizens transmit is pictures and narratives of real democratic action