Public communication and constitution of scenarios of dissent in institutional contexts

Abstract

The aim of this article is to highlight the potentialities and weaknesses of an understanding of public communicationassociated with political and democratic models backed by dialogical practices in public sphere networks, reciprocityand accountability, civic and political participation, construction of independence and citizenship. The normative ideal ofdemocracy presented by Jürgen Habermas bases this conception bringing with it certain qualities, but also many limitationsalready pointed out by his critics, particularly when concerning the questionable role played by the communication mediain the creation of public spheres and also with the difficult exercise of debate partners of creating scenarios of dissent, inwhich partners recognize each other as citizens of speech and effective interlocutors.