Digital Discourses and the Democratic Public Sphere 2035

Democracies around the world are under pressure, and Germany is no exception. Attacks on liberal democracy and its values come both from within, with extremist and populist actors seeking power and influence, and from abroad, with autocratic states competing for regional and global hegemony. Central to these attacks is the battle for public opinion and the overall societal mood. Among other tactics, disinformation is deliberately used to inflame emotions, drive polarisation, and undermine trust in politics, the media, and democratic systems. In the era of social media and at a time when texts, images, and videos can be convincingly generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence, the value of the democratic public sphere for the survival of democracy becomes evident. Resilient democracies need a discursive space that provides reliable and trustworthy information. Democracy thrives on the competition between politicians and parties with differing values and interests to find the best solutions, and on citizens‘ ability to form opinions confidently and based on facts. It also depends on journalists acting as corrective and enlightening forces, capable of critically monitoring governments and questioning political decisions. Without such a public sphere where civilised debates can take place, and without media that provides reliable information, a vibrant democracy has little chance of future viability. But how do we ensure that the diverse possibilities of digital technologies and ommunication contribute to strengthening discourse rather than leading to polarisation? In our extensive foresight process, we, along with twelve experts, dared a look into the future. Over six months, we jointly developed three robust future scenarios on the topic of “Discourses and Democratic Public Sphere 2035” Central to this process were questions such as: ▪ How might digitalisation change democratic processes? ▪ Where might new opportunities for participation arise? And where might power dynamics shift? ▪ How could digital technologies alter the democratic public sphere and opinion formation? ▪ How can technological developments be actively shaped?