Campaign Argument and the Liberal Public Sphere: A Case Study of the Process of Developing Messages in a Congressional Campaign

Abstract

One of the most important issues facing argumentation theory is the status of the public sphere. Most critics have used theory to “peer into” the public sphere. This essay takes a different approach, using a case study of a campaign as a method of reasoning about the public sphere. Using “liberal public sphere theory,” it tests the quality of public deliberation about immigration and terrorism during the 2004 campaign of Congressman Dennis Moore. Despite flaws in campaign talk and media coverage of the issues, the liberal public sphere still functioned to inform the public.