The New Public

Leon Mayhew describes a 'New Public' which has replaced the modern public of the Enlightenment with an unstable social order subject to the rhetorical workings of mass communications cultures. Bridging Parsons and Habermas, he offers a new discursive theory of social influence in the age of advertising, lobbying, and media manipulation.

---

Professional specialists, using market research and promotional campaigns, have come to dominate public communication. The modern public of the Enlightenment, based on free discussion, has, in Leon Mayhew's terms, been replaced by a 'New Public,' subject to mass persuasion through systematic advertising, lobbying, and other forms of media manipulation. Mayhew examines this sociological development in terms of discourse and social influence, offering an original theory which bridges Talcott Parsons and Jurgen Habermas. Most importantly, he shows how the rhetorical techniques of the professional communicators are designed to avoid having to defend their claims, thereby precluding meaningful discussion of public issues. As a result, institutions providing forums for good-faith, two-way discourse no longer exist, community through communication cannot be achieved, and the social order is unstable.