The development of a European public sphere: a stalled project?

The editorial to the symposium briefly contextualises current debates on the European 'public sphere' and/or on absence thereof. In light of concern with the EU's so-called 'democratic deficit', the issue of how to create a polis without a demos has focused, in part, on the role of the public sphere (Öffentlichkeit) with respect, for example, to the mass media, law, and organisations within civil society. The editorial introduces the individual papers and seeks to identify their potential contributions to academic and policy debate within and beyond the EU.