Abstract:

Since Habermas put forward the concept of the public sphere, it has become an important theoretical framework used to research China’s society by Chinese and western scholars Although the limitation of historical conditions in which the public sphere formed can be transcended when using this concept, its core connotation, that is, four formation conditions of the public sphere cannot be neglected It must be based on the civil society, have a certain amount of the public who are concerned about the general interests, form some critical public opinions, and have public media and public places According to this standard, when this concept is used to analyze the cyberspace in contemporary China, it can be concluded that cyberspace is not a public sphere in the full sense, but a “quasi-public sphere” There is still a long way to go from the “quasi-public sphere” to the public sphere, and the process will promote the democratization process in China’s socialist politics and the construction of civil society

Key words: public sphere, cyberspace, the public, public opinion, civil society