Author's Keywords: public sphere, letters to the editor, media, deliberation	Convention Convention is an application service for managing large or small academic conferences, annual meetings, and other types of events! Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! Click here for more information.
Association: Name: American Sociological Association URL: http://www.asanet.org
Citation: URL: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p103739_index.html Direct Link: HTML Code:

Perrin, Andrew. and Vaisey, Stephen. "Arguing in an Anonymous Public: Writing and Reading Letters to the Editor" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Aug 11, 2006 <Not Available>. 2009-05-25 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p103739_index.html>

Perrin, A. J. and Vaisey, S. , 2006-08-11 "Arguing in an Anonymous Public: Writing and Reading Letters to the Editor" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online <APPLICATION/PDF>. 2009-05-25 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p103739_index.html

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript Abstract: The image of the deliberative public sphere, empirically and theoretically contested as it is, is a central figure of democratic thought and practice. This article examines one "mediated public sphere" in which citizens attempt to enact public communication: the letters-to-the-editor column found in virtually all newspapers. Using a unique data set consisting of letters and information on their authors, we theorize this mediated public sphere and offer insights into its actual and potential public-sphere capacities. Public debate in the Letters to the Editor column represents a pragmatic approach to solving a normative problem: the paucity of spaces in which citizens can enact the kind of public sphere demanded by their understanding of democracy. It is, of course, by no means an ideal public sphere offering inclusion, deliberation, and extensive consideration of important issues. It is, however, a tool available for citizens to use in seeking to practice the democratic ideals they imagine to fulfill effective citizenship.

�Just-in-time Democracy? Promises and Perils of the Digital Public Sphere�

The Public Sphere Revisited: U.S. Newspapers� Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign (Top Student Paper)

Public Opinion, Foreign Policy, and Democracy: The Influence of the Will of the Majority. A Paper Prepared for the 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association