Discussing the ideological nature of the Habermasian theoretical guidelines and their assimilation by social management in the field of administration

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss the ideological nature of Jürgen Habermas’ theoretical framework regarding his concept of public sphere within his deliberative democratic theory and its assimilation by social management in the field of administration. The study intends to contribute offering a critical approach towards the influence of Habermas on the notion of social management, mainly with regard to the category of public sphere, by relying on the theme of ideology in a capitalist State and a class society. We analyze the evolution and continuity of Habermas’ thought about the public sphere and discuss the consonance of the perspective of social management with the assumptions of Habermas’ deliberative theory. We then argue that Habermas’ theoretical framework points to an ideology of consensus on social developments. In addition, we claim that, inasmuch as Habermas presumes the possibility of a wholly spontaneous and unfettered dialogue, he ends up designing, idealistically, the intersubjective communication and the public sphere as an “ideal” discursive instance – as aprioristic guarantees of success. We conclude that the “real” public sphere should not be conceived as an arena of idealistic communicative conditions but as a genuinely contentious and asymmetrical deliberative space. In addition, an effective public sphere is supposed to encompass both informal public opinion formation and formal decision making, that is, it should promote real sharing of decision-making power, as sustained by the perspective of social management.