Media and Democracy: A Historical Perspective

Politischer Salon: Media and Democracy: A Historical Perspective

Today the world is undergoing a communications revolution, though its course is uncertain and difficult to predict. This makes it an opportune moment for broad reflection on the relationship of the media to democracy and how both have evolved over time. The first democracies, those of the ancient world, were cities small enough for the citizens to communicate face to face; hence they did not need “media” in our sense of the term. Modern representative democracies, by contrast, were born in the age of print, and their much larger extent made liberty of the press essential. But while free media are indispensible to modern democracy, they, like political parties and the associations composing civil society, lack formal constitutional status, and thus are susceptible to great variation both across countries and over time. Until recently, it seemed as if the democratic world was converging on a model that emphasized “critical professionalism” and a weakening of ties between media organizations and other political and social groups. Today, however, the emergence of new technologies may be leading to a reversal of these trends.

Marc F. Plattner, Vice-president for Research and Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, Washington D.C.; Co-editor of the Journal of Democracy.

Chairs:
Norbert Mayer, Editor for Culture, Die Presse.
Ivan Krastev, Chair of the Board, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia; Permanent Fellow, IWM.

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