Public sphere and legitimacy in Jürgen Habermas

Abstract

This article intends to demonstrate, in view of the general framework of the deliberative model of democracy, the importance of the public sphere for the process of legitimizing the decisions of the political system. To this end, the principle of discourse ('D'), postulated by Jürgen Habermas, will be highlighted, based on which non-substantive consensus is founded in the context of post-traditional societies through the expansion of opportunities for expression. Finally, it corroborates the hypothesis of a public sphere as a privileged space in which civil society exercises its autonomy both privately and publicly through the formation of opinion and political will. Finally, it corroborates the hypothesis of a public sphere as a privileged space in which civil society exercises its autonomy both privately and publicly through the formation of opinion and political will.