Event #1

The concept of public space is one of the fundamental components of democratic life. Generally speaking, when we think of democratic life, we think of a political system that hosts institutions, constitutional and common laws, provisions and shared choices. We consider these fundamental elements in in a pluralistic, representative democracy which, through rules, regulations and procedures, separates itself from autocratic, authoritarian regimes. However, while this depiction is certainly accurate, it is also incomplete. One of the crucial distinctive marks of democracy is the scope and wealth of its public space, where the quintessential democratic freedom is exercised – that of sharing with other citizens methods of evaluation and possible solutions to collective problems that pose opposite and contradicting issues. From this perspective, public space is a social space, rather than an institutional space. It is the space where citizenship is voiced. The space where unexpressed potential and unseen needs and hopes, which would otherwise be denied and left opaque, may come to light. A space which is rather full of dissonance and cacophony. Yet when the boundaries of this space are forbidden or restricted, when the practice of democratic liberty fails, or the costs for democracy’s access to public space become terribly high and unequal, then the quality of that democracy exhibits a significant, and sometimes grave, deficit. The central issue that surfaces is the alignment or disalignment of public and institutional space. Many deficits and mosts crises within contemporary democracy arise when the voices of citizenship within the public space – as a social space – find no correspondence within the institutional space where the provisional power that governs society is exercised.