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The creation of an Internet public sphere by South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission and Elections Canada

Hannelie Otto
Northwest University
Lynnette M Fourie
Northwest University
Johannes D Froneman
Northwest University
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The creation of an Internet public sphere by South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission and Elections Canada. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 26(1), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v26i1.1705
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  • Submited: October 17, 2022
  • Published: October 20, 2022

Abstract

A prerequisite for a healthy, sustainable democracy is an informed citizenry that participates in
the democratic process (see Habermas, 1989:49). In recent years much discourse on the media
and democracy correlation has focused on the potential role of the Internet in facilitating political
communication by establishing a virtual public sphere.
This article investigates the extent to which the South African (IEC) and Canadian electoral
commissions’ websites have succeeded in establishing a virtual public sphere. The Elections
Canada web site (representing an established democracy) has succeeded better at resembling
some of the normative principles of the public sphere theory than has the IEC.

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How to Cite
The creation of an Internet public sphere by South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission and Elections Canada. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 26(1), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v26i1.1705

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