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[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English] This article focuses on the debate between Jurgen Habermas and Charles Taylor on the place of religious argumentation in the formal public sphere. Habermas’s position, which arises from his critique of John Rawls’s position and is also its continuation, is based on the principle of common reason. In order to use their arguments in the public sphere, religious people must translate them into secular language, which is supposedly understood by every rational person. Taylor opposes this position by stating that the division between religious and secular arguments is not well enough reasoned. The aim of this article is to find out whether the views of Hebarmas, as well as the core presuppositions that they are based on, can stand their ground and whether they are capable of reflecting the current geopolitical and sociocultural situation and help in understanding it. This is done by using the points made by Taylor and other authors who support his views and trying to find a satisfactory alternative solution.

Straipsnyje analizuojama LDK paveldo reprezentacija kaip tautinės tapatybės konstravimo būdas populiariausiuose Lietuvos ir Baltarusijos naujienų portaluose 2013–2014 metais. Diskurso analizės metu nustatyta, kad daugumoje interneto žiniasklaidos publikacijų sava valstybė laikyta pagrindine arba vienintele LDK paveldėtoja, tačiau toks požiūris neakcentuotas ir laikytas savaime suprantamu. Kaimyninė valstybė tokiose publikacijose kritikuota retai, o joje vyraujantis naratyvas laikytas nerimtu, nepagrįstu ir nevertu dėmesio. Viešojoje erdvėje sąlyčio taškų tarp vienos ir kitos šalies naratyvų nėra, nė vienoje valstybėje kitos valstybės naratyvai nėra paaiškinami ir su jais nėra diskutuojama, todėl konfliktinė situacija tarp lietuvių ir baltarusių tapatybių gali būti laikoma užslėpta arba potencialia. This article is aimed at presenting an insight into national identities as constructed on the basis of the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) in the major Lithuanian and Belarusian news sites (2013–2014). By performing content analysis, it was revealed that in the vast majority of news publications, either Lithuania or Belarus, respectively by country of publishing, was considered as the main or only successor of the GDL, although this narrative was not elaborated upon and was seen as self-explanatory. The neighboring state was rarely criticized and its narrative mostly considered as frivolous and not worthy of attention. A lack of contact, discussion and mutual explanation between the Lithuanian and Belarusian narratives in the public sphere means that a conflict between both national identities can be seen as hidden or potential.

Most of the authorities (ministries, municipalities) and NGOs are currently developing initiatives and projects based on active citizen engagement and participation. With the help of these initiatives and projects, which are usually implemented using e-communication tools in the modern public sphere, institutions seek to obtain citizens’ opinions and feedback on relevant issues, as well as to spread information which is relevant to the citizens. The dissertation aims to determine how citizens can participate in such initiatives, projects or in other activities based on active civic engagement, and at the same time to reveal the significance of such initiatives, projects or activities for the implementing institutions. Enhancement of citizens’ participation in such initiatives, as a new form of activity, is also implemented by NGOs. Analysis of e-participation expressions, used for NGOs activities implementation, allows to create detailed conception of e-participation as communicative method, which promotes citizen empowerment and engagement into consideration of certain issues and decision-making processes, emphasized in new public governance. According to developed methodological tool is aimed to analyze implementation of Lithuanian NGOs activities, communicative tools used for this implementation and to determine peculiarities of e-participation tools’ application in the implementation of Lithuanian NGOs activities.

Profesionalaus lietuvių teatro formavimosi pradžioje pirmuoju nepriklausomos Lietuvos dešimtmečiu profesijos pamokas išeina ir lietuvių teatro kritika. Straipsnyje analizuojami šio laiko teatro ir spaudos bei jai atstovaujančių recenzentų ryšiai, pastarųjų požiūris į aktualius teatro ir gyvenimo, scenos meno ir literatūros, estetinio ir tautinio angažuotumo aspektus. Išskiriama diskusinė spaudos ir teatro santykių atmosfera. Pristatomi trys skirtingų leidinių, skirtingų patirčių ir kritinių „metodų“ recenzentai – Viktoras Jocaitis, Pranas Lubickas, Vytautas Pranas Bičiūnas. In the beginning of the development of the professional Lithuanian theatre in the first decade of Lithuanian independence, Lithuanian theatre criticism also took its first steps. The article analyses the connection between theatre and its reviewers, their attitude towards contemporary aspects of theatre and life, scenic art and literature, aesthetics and national ideology. The debata¬ble atmosphere of press and theatre is accentuated. Three reviewers of different newspapers and periodicals, different experiences and methods are presented: Viktoras Jocaitis, Pranas Lubickas, and Vytautas Pranas Bičiūnas. The author maintains that the real school of theatrical criticism of that period was not only theatre, but also press. The debates on the state of national art (theatre, literature, fine arts) and its development appeared in publications, shaped multiple public spheres, and theatre criticism got involved into it.

This article aims to take a closer look at conceptual art practices as platforms for expressing political attitudes. Conceptual art practices shifted the emphasis of art-making away from static, individual objects towards the presentation of a new relationship in space, time, and context. Moreover, conceptual art represents “institutional critique” in the sense of critically reflecting the art practices within galleries, including the opposition to understanding arts as consumerism. Despite the fact that conceptual art is recognised as one of the most political branches of art, there is a strong relationship between political expressions and local context. There is a wide scientific agreement that local political, social, historical, economic, and cultural conditions are the main factors responsible for political attributes. In the empirical approach evidence of visual similarities between US, West Europe, East Europe, and Latin America, the conceptual practices are explored, but the political, ideological, and social concepts are recognised as radically different. Considering the differences of political interpretations of conceptual art that depend on a particular region and the differences between individual Eastern European countries, Lithuanian case must be analysed in its own terms. However, social and political scientists are still reluctant to show more interest in the political and social field of art practices in Lithuania. This article seeks to identify the types of political implications that are being communicated in the Lithuanian conceptual art and why artists select certain attitudes and attributes at certain times. The framing of the article is designed to emphasize and outline the local specificity and political identity of artistic works that were made in Lithuania. The analysis attempts to situate the term “conceptual art” in Lithuania. Later, it leads to the isolation of four directions of political implications in the realm of Lithuanian conceptual practices. The first direction is related to the criticism of internal politics of the art world. The second one reveals a strong relationship between conceptual art practices and current problems in the public sphere, such as ecology, human rights, and environmental protection. The third direction leads to the legitimization of conceptual practices and critiques of regime, as well as pursuing and proclaiming certain political goals on the local political, social, and cultural stage. And the last one can be defined as institutionalisation and routinisation of conceptual art in Lithuania with the elimination of internal and external elements of political critique. All in all, the aim to problematize the dynamics of political communication in Lithuanian conceptual art can be defined as the main goal of this article. It reveals that artistic practices have the potential to create the subtle expressions of political and social attitudes as well as spaces for political protest in Lithuania.

Straipsnyje įvairiais aspektais analizuojamas vaiko (iki 3 metų) dalyvavimas viešajame gyvenime XX–XXI a. Lietuvoje. Pagal tėvų su vaikais dalyvavimą viešojoje erdvėje aiškinamasi: koks vaiko amžius laikytas (laikomas) tinkamu pradėti lankytis viešumoje; analizuojami įsitikinimai, lėmę skirtingas nuostatas dėl vaikų dalyvavimo viešajame gyvenime; bandoma atskleisti vaiko priežiūros aplinkybes, visuomenės vertybes, bendruomeninio gyvenimo niuansus, turėjusius įtakos šių nuostatų kaitai. Daroma išvada, kad XXI a. pirmaisiais dešimtmečiais, palyginti su ankstesniuoju laikotarpiu, akivaizdus besiformuojantis naujas mažo vaiko dalyvavimo viešojoje erdvėje modelis. In the report various aspects of a child’s (up to 3 years) participation in the public life in Lithuania of 20th–21st centuries are analyzed. The parental beliefs about the age of a child as appropriate to start the children’s participation in the public life are discussed; the circumstances of the baby care, moral values of the society, community life issues that have been affecting the change of these beliefs are revealed. The study revealed that parental attitudes to the child’s participation in the public life and their behaviour during the discussed period significantly changed. The twentieth century is characterised by restraining of the child from the public sphere. The child was raised at home, in the family environment. Children were not taken to the adult community gatherings in the Lithuanian rural culture in the beginning of the 20th century. Children had to leave the room when a guest came in a house. The age, when a child began to participate in more active public life, was 4 years old. Child’s restriction of the public sphere in the beginning of the 20th century was related to the prevailing belief that the child is more protected from the malicious exposure to the evil eye people or mythical creatures in the home environment. Also it was related to the living conditions, values and aspirations characteristic to the culture typical for the beginning of the 20th century village and individual farmsteads. The study revealed that the model of child’s limitation from the public sphere was brought from the village to the city in the second half of the 20th century and prevailed there until the 9th decade. One of the main causes of this attitude was the belief that the encounter with the public space is detrimental to a young child’s psyche. Yet, at that time we can also see many signs of liberalization of the attitudes concerning child’s public life shaping. One of them – the right age to start participating in public life came to be considered the period of three years. An emerging new model of child’s participation in the public sphere is observed in the first decades of the 21st century. Its main feature is an early and active involvement of a child in the public life. The baby becomes a participant of the public life from the first months or weeks. The new culture of child’s engagement in the public life, characteristic to the 21st century, can be attributed to significant changes in the child’s household growing conditions, such as the new hygiene, baby transportation instruments, as well as new opportunities in the field of child’s health, changes in the human living environment and changes in the public space. An important factor that influenced the change in the attitudes of parents is the transformation of societal values: the value of sedentary life, inherent to the beginning of the 20th century, was replaced by the value of mobility in the 21st century.[...]

Lietuvos viešojoje erdvėje dažnai diskutuojama apie rinkėjų elgesį, tačiau konkrečių partijų ar tuo labiau politikų elektoratams skirtų akademinių straipsnių, kuriuose būtų taikoma kiekybinė analizė, trūksta. 2015 m. kovo mėn. vykusių pirmųjų tiesioginių mero rinkimų ir buvusio ilgamečio Vilniaus mero Artūro Zuoko pralaimėjimo kontekstas suteikia puikią progą išanalizuoti šio politiko socialinę paramos bazę. Pagal tris skirtingus (potencialaus) elektorato analizės lygmenis (objektyvų individo, subjektyvų individo, balsavimo rezultatų teritorinėse rinkimų apylinkėse), analizuojant reprezentatyvius duomenis ir pritaikant statistinius metodus, straipsnyje siekiama nustatyti politiko A. Zuoko vietą nacionalinės politinės konkurencijos lauke. Analizė leidžia daryti išvadą, kad buvusio Vilniaus mero sociologinis profilis yra centro dešinysis, artimas liberalams ir konservatoriams. Discussions about the electoral behaviour are very common in the Lithuanian public sphere. However, there is a lack of academic articles that would focus on the electorates of particular parties or politicians and would employ quantitative analysis. The context of first direct mayoral elections in Lithuania (March 2015) that coincided with the electoral defeat of long-term Vilnius mayor Artūras Zuokas provides a perfect opportunity to analyze the social support base of this politician. This article employs data from representative survey and uses quantitative methods for the analysis of Artūras Zuokas position in the field of Lithuanian national political competition. Three subsets of analysis are discerned in the article: objective individual, subjective individual and voting in the territorial electoral districts. Empirical analysis suggests that the sociological profile of former Vilnius mayor is center-right, similar to the liberals and conservatives.

Straipsnyje aptariamos sparčiai populiarėjančio socialinio meno vertinimo problemos. Radikaliai pažeisdamas modernybei būdingos meno autonomijos ribas, socialinis menas perkelia kūrybos ir sklaidos procesus į visuomeninių santykių sferą, tad jo interpretacijose susipina estetiniai, etiniai ir politiniai aspektai. Čia mėginama suformuluoti tokios meninės veiklos vertinimo kriterijus ir išbandyti juos projekto Šančiai – draugiška zona atvejo analizėje.

Lietuvoje informacijos sklaidą visuomenėje kuruojančias institucijas siejantis viešosios erdvės laukas dažnai pajungiamas privatiems, komerciniams interesams, todėl stiprėjant pilietinės visuomenės poreikiui dalyvauti priimant ir įgyvendinant sprendimus siekiama nustatyti socialinį įsitraukimą (dalyvavimą) ir e. dalyvavimą lemiančius veiksnius. Vienas aktyviausių pilietinę veiklą įgyvendinančių organų - nevyriausybinės organizacijos. Lietuvoje e. dalyvavimas dažniausiai suprantamas kaip viešųjų paslaugų teikimas ar e. komercija Siekiant aptarti e. dalyvavimą kaip komunikacinę sąrangą, stiprinančią dalyvaujamąją demokratiją ir pilietiškumą, neatsiejama viešosios erdvės, kaip informacijos sklaidos lauko, dimensija. Moksliniam tyrimui pasirinktas objektas - nevyriausybinių organizacijų e. dalyvavimo raiškos - Lietuvoje dar nenagrinėtas. Kyla mokslinė problema: ar trečiojo sektoriaus veikloms įgyvendinti pasitelktas e. dalyvavimas ir visuomenei aktualiems klausimams svarstyti ir viešinti išnaudojama viešoji erdvė gali paskatinti pilietiškumą, dalyvaujamosios demokratijos įsitvirtinimą ir užtikrinti visuomenės e. dalyvavimą? The public sphere uniting the Lithuanian institutions that supervise information dissemination in the public usually attracts private and commercial interest; therefore, with an increasing demand of civil society to participate in decision-making and implementation processes, it is necessary to define the factors that determine social involvement (participation) and e-participation. Non-governmental organizations are most active institutions implementing civil activities. In Lithuania, e-participation is usually considered as the provision of public services and e-commerce. In this article, e-participation is discussed as a communication framework enhancing participatory democracy and citizenship. According to this communicative aspect, e-participation is also analyzed as an integral part of the public sphere and as a dimension of information dissemination. The research analyses the expressions of non-governmental organizations' e-participation, which have never been studied in Lithuania. The research is focused on the following scientific problem: may the e-participation used for the implementation of third sector activities and the public sphere used for the consideration and announcement of urgent issues encourage active citizenship, establishment of participatory democracy and ensure public e-participation?

Theoretical analysis of interaction between different levels – e-participation, public sphere and non-governmental organisations is presented in this article. According to this analysis, this article presents the estimated expressions of NGO e-participation in Lithuania. The aim of this article is to analyse theoretical approaches which involve the conception of e-participation and implementation of NGO activities using e-participation. The object of this article indicates expressions of e‑participation of non-governmental organisations. Three main theoretical approaches are emphasised in the article: postmodernism, critical theory and social constructivism. According to these theories, common factors are noted, namely social, political and communicative, which influence the expressions of NGO e-participation and relate the main theoretical approaches. Straipsnyje pateikiama skirtingų lygmenų – e. dalyvavimo, viešosios erdvės ir nevyriausybinių organizacijų sąveikos teorinė analizė, kuria remiantis įvertinamos NVO e. dalyvavimo raiškos Lietuvoje. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti e. dalyvavimo koncepciją apimančias teorines prieigas ir NVO veiklų įgyvendinimą e. dalyvavimu. Tyrimo objektas – nevyriausybinių organizacijų elektroninio dalyvavimo raiškos. Skiriamos trys pagrindinės teorinės prieigos: postmodernizmas, kritinė teorija ir socialinis konstruktyvizmas. Šių teorijų pagrindu išryškinami bendri veiksniai – socialiniai, politiniai, komunikaciniai, darantys įtaką nevyriausybinių organizacijų elektroninio dalyvavimo raiškoms ir tarpusavyje susiejantys pagrindines teorines prieigas.

Straipsnyje siūlomas būdas, kaip viesosios erdvės sampratą pritaikyti sovietinės Lietuvos laikotarpiui ir kaip jos funkcionavimą rekonstruoti per vieną is dėmenų – bibliotekas. Teigiama, kad nors viesoji komunikacija neatitiko laisvo žodžio, atvirumo ir polilogiskumo kriterijų, taciau analizei galima pasitelkti viesąją erdve ne normatyvine prasme, o tik kaip komunikacine struktūrą, taip pat įvertinti ją per „pasaulio atvėrimo“ koncepciją. Siai komunikacinei struktūrai priklaususių bibliotekų veikla analizuojama trimis lygmenimis – politiniu, ideologiniu ir administraciniu, kurie leidžia į bibliotekas pažiūrėti kaip į tam tikras informacines piramides, kuriose informacija (spaudiniai) pateikiama pagal hierarchijos principus. Kiekvienu is sių lygmenų atsiveria skirtingi informacinės hierarchijos aspektai: politiniu lygmeniu reikia kalbėti apie atkirtimą nuo konteksto ir tradicijos; administraciniu lygmeniu isryskėja infrastruktūrinės reformos reiksmė; ideologiniu lygmeniu iskyla dirbtinis prioritetų sudarymas pagal ideologinius principus. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: viesoji erdvė, komunikacinė struktūra, biblioteka, sovietų Lietuva, vėlyvasis sovietmetis, ideologija. T he Hierarchy of Information in the L ate Soviet Period: the Case of Library Tomas Vaiseta Summary The article deals with the situation of libraries in the late soviet period (1964–1988) as an element of soviet public sphere. The soviet public sphere is interpreted not in a normative sense (as a contribution to a normative political theory of democracy), but only as a structure of communication, and it is compared with the concept of the public sphere as a place of “world-disclosing”, proposed by Craig Calhoun. It is suggested that a typical metaphor of pyramid is valid to understand the hierarchy of information in libraries, but it is necessary to analyse this pyramid on three levels – political, administrative, and ideological. Each of these levels shows that we should approach the soviet libraries not as a place of “world-disclosing”, but as a place of “world-closing”. , sans-serif;">

Jau gerą pusę šimtmečio mokslininkų tyrimais yra įrodyta, jog žiniasklaida yra aktyvi politinio diskurso dalyvė ir konstruotoja. Praėjusio šimtmečio pabaigoje įsivyravus internetinei žiniasklaidai matomi ir žiniasklaidos turinio formavimo bei informacijos pateikimo pasikeitimai. Įsivyravus informacinėms technologijoms, keičiasi ne tik žiniasklaida, jos veikla, kuriamas ir skleidžiamas turinys, bet ir komunikacija, į kurią yra įtraukti ir kiti viešosios erdvės veikėjai – visuomenė ir politikai. Pastarųjų sąveika politikos komunikacijos sistemoje geriausiai atsispindi būtent per žiniasklaidoje pateikiamą informaciją, jos pranešimų poveikį ir pan., nes daugiausia tik dėl žiniasklaidoje pateikiamų pranešimų yra įmanomas visuomenės informuotumas apie politiką, taip pat tik žiniasklaida įtraukia visuomenę į politinių sprendimų priėmimą ar diskusiją apie politines problemas, priimamus sprendimus. Šiame straipsnyje nėra kvestionuojamas žiniasklaidos, taip pat ir internetinės žiniasklaidos, vaidmuo, jos svarba ar poveikiai, straipsnyje yra teigiama, kad žiniasklaida, o ypač internetinė, yra aktyvi politinės komunikacijos dalyvė, įtraukianti į aktyvią komunikaciją ir politikus per jų pasisakymams suteikiamą erdvę. Dėl šių veiksmų, internetinėje žiniasklaidoje pastebimas ne tik žiniasklaidos formuojamas politinis turinys, bet ir pačių politikų konstruojamas politinis diskursas, kurį žiniasklaida tik moderuoja. Šio straipsnio tikslas – ištirti ir nustatyti internetinėje žiniasklaidoje pateikiamo politinio diskurso kaitą. Aptariamas žiniasklaidos vaidmuo ir jo kaita politikos diskurso konstruotojamame politikos komunikacijos kontekste, taip pat siekiama nustatyti internetinės žiniasklaidos politinio diskurso, konstruojamo pačių politikos veikėjų, kaitą.Changes in the Political Discourse Constructed by the Lithuanian Internet MediaRenata Matkevičienė Summary In the end of the last century when the social media became an important part of the media system, there oceurzed changes in constructing the content the of media and spread of information, as well as news creation, selection and delivery.Changes that occurred in the media because of new information technologies could be seen not only in the mass media, journalism, but also in communication in general, because those changes involved all participants of the public sphere: the media, politicians and citizens. In the system of political communication, the interaction of these participants could be seen via the news that are delivered, and their effects: society receives information about politics and participates in discussions about it. In the article, the role and effects of the Internet are not questioned, because the Internet media are an active participant of political communication; they involve politicians into communication processes, providing space for their voices (publications).The aim of this article is to analyse the change of political discourse in the Internet media content.In the article, the role of the media and its change are discussed in the context of social constructivist theoretical approach; also the political discourse constructed by and in the internet media is analyzed in search of changes in the construction of political discourse, introduced by politicians into the Internet media.The main conclusions made in the article are as follows: 1) the use of the internet by politicians as an arena for discussions is increasing, 2) the main topics discussed by politicians in the internet are politics, economy, energy and social policy, 3) the ways in which politicians are discussing political issues differ depending on the number of years that a politician participates in the political arena, the topic or issue under discussion, 4) economic and political issues are discussed in more sophisticated ways in comparison with discussions of social policy issues which are presented in a very simple, clear way with the arguments that stress the aspects important for society or for some specific groups of citizens, 5) in presenting ideas and in discussions, the politicians prefer to present their own the position instead of presenting position of a political party. These main research findings lead to some conclusions about changes in the political discourse, but they also show quite a strong and manipulative role of the Internet media in selecting politicians and their publications, so it shows that there is still a strong role of the Internet media in constructing the political reality and presenting this “window” to political reality, which is strongly influenced by the position of the media.

Straipsnyje, paremtame pusiau struktūruotų interviu su Lietuvos Seimo nariais medžiaga, analizuojama tiek bendrojo diskurso, susijusio su moterų atstovavimo politikoje stiprinimu, kaita, tiek Seimo narių konkrečiai reiškiamo požiūrio į lyčių kvotas ypatumai, pristatant formalaus struktūrinio lyčių atstovavimo sovietiniame režime patirtis ir santykinai nykstančio moterų atstovavimo požymius demokratinėje politikoje. Atskleidžiama, kad nei priklausymas politinei partijai, nei „plitimo“ (angl. contagion) efektas, nei ekonominės ir socialinės plėtros veiksniai trumpuoju laikotarpiu nedaro pastebimo poveikio lyčių lygybės diskurso kaitai ir nestimuliuoja teigiamų nuostatų lyčių kvotų ar moterų atstovavimo politinėje arenoje didinimo atžvilgiu Political theory and empirical research demonstrates that women's political representation involves special post-communist structural (related to multi-party system development) and discursive (related to liberalization of the public sphere) contexts of new democracies. With the interview data from post-communist Lithuanian political elite, we confront experience of formal structural gender representation during the Soviet regime and observe deteriorating women's parliamentary representation in the early democratic politics. Cognitive, emotional and normative stances of MPs (men and women) towards the issue of gender quotas provide useful tools to look deeper into the reorganization of the very principles and concept of political representation in new democracies. Based on materials of semi-structured interviews with Lithuanian parliamentarians (parliamentary term 1996-2000, n=11; and parliamentary term 2000-2004, n=28) we analyze variations of discourse concerning women's political representation in general and establishment of gender quotas in particular. Our analysis reveals that neither political party affiliation, nor "contagion" effects, nor economic and social development related factors increase individual support for gender quotas and women's representation in the parliamentary arena; the explanatory variable is the gender itself: most women MPs would support special measures (including quotas) for enhancement of women, but not men MPs. Furthermore, content of discourses and discursive resistance (against quotas) varies across the length of democratic experience and depends on the share of women MPs in the actual parliament: the fewer women parliamentarians, the stronger is their support for quotas; the later the period, the less are quotas associated with the despised soviet heritage. In addition, to reveal women's quotas parliamentary situation-bounded supportive discourse, but not growing feminist consciousness in general, we also suggest some implications related to intersection of gender and political party affiliation

Straipsnio pirmoje dalyje gvildenamos interneto kaip viešosios erdvės teorinės prieigos. Antra dalis skirta empiriniam „The New York Times“ interneto svetainės tyrimui, pasitelkiant vokiečių sociologo Jurgeno Habermaso apibrėžtą idealios viešosios erdvės teoriją, t. y. „The New York Times“ interneto svetainė pasirinkta viešosios erdvės teorijai patikrinti praktiškai. Lietuvos žiniasklaidai šis tyrimas galėtų būti aktualus, nes dauguma žiniasklaidos priemonių stengiasi labiau skatinti interaktyvumą savo interneto svetainėse. Beveik visose Lietuvos dienraščių interneto svetainėse skaitytojams sudaromos galimybės ir sąlygos diskutuoti įvairiomis dienraščių svetainėse publikuojamomis temomis. Mūsų šalies dienraščių interneto svetainėse paprastai galima perskaityti publikacijų ir pareikšti savo nuomonę komentaruose be jokių papildomų apribojimų. Todėl empirinis „The New York Times“ interneto svetainės kaip viešosios erdvės tyrimas gali būti svarbus ir naudingas plečiant Lietuvos dienraščių interneto svetaines, nes tyrimas atskleidžia tendencijas, kaip lyderiaujančio pasaulyje dienraščio interneto svetainėje užtikrinama ir kuriama teoriniuose darbuose aprašyta viešoji erdvė, kurioje skaitytojai išreiškia savo nuomonę. Nors skirtingi pasaulio mokslininkai nevienodai apibrėžia ir traktuoja viešosios erdvės sąvoką, kaip pagrindinė ašis straipsnyje pasirinkta vokiečių sociologo Jürgeno Habermaso viešosios erdvės teorija. Šiam mokslininkui viešoji erdvė yra pagrindinis praktiškas principas demokratinėje visuomenėje, kuris remiasi idealia demokratine komunikacija. Habermaso supratimu, ideali viešoji erdvė yra apibrėžiama remiantis šiais principais: prisijungimas prie viešų diskusijų yra laisvas ir atviras kiekvienam; visi viešos diskusijos dalyviai yra laikomi lygūs; nėra temų, kurios galėtų būti išbrauktos iš diskusijų kaip netinkamos; viešų svarstymų rezultatai yra vertinami, atsižvelgiant tik į išsakytus geriausius argumentus; diskusijų tikslas yra konsensusas ir bendrumas. Šie esminiai J. Habermaso viešosios erdvės teorijos aspektai buvo pasirinkti, siekiant atlikti empirinį tyrimą. Bandoma išsiaiškinti, kaip viešosios erdvės teorija veikia praktiškai viename iš geriausiai žinomų ir respektabiliausių pasaulyje „The New York Times“ dienraščio interneto svetainėje (prieiga internete www.nytimes.com ir www.nyt.com). Tyrimu siekta atsakyti į klausimą, ar „The New York Times“ dienraščio interneto svetainė yra tapusi „viešąja erdve“. Atliekant tyrimą siekta šių tikslų: išnagrinėti, ar prisijungimas prie viešų diskusijų „The New York Times“ dienraščio interneto svetainėje yra laisvas ir atviras kiekvienam; ištirti, ar visi viešos diskusijos dalyviai „The New York Times“ dienraščio interneto svetainėje yra laikomi lygūs; išanalizuoti, ar nėra temų, kurios iš „The New York Times“ dienraščio interneto svetainėje galimų vykti diskusijų galėtų būti išbrauktos kaip netinkamos. [...] Paper considers the theory of the Internet becoming part of the "public sphere". The first part of the paper looks at how the concept of the public sphere was used by different scholars and how they defined the theory of the “public sphere”. The second part of the paper analyses how the theory about the public sphere defined by different scholars works on the practical level.

Žiniasklaida yra viena svarbiausių informacijos šaltinių apie valdžios institucijų darbą bei jo vertinimą ir kartu viena pagrindinių demokratinės visuomenės veikėjų, formuojančių ir palaikančių viešąjį diskursą. Normatyviniu požiūriu žiniasklaida laikoma demokratijos garantu, užtikrinančiu visuomenės informavimą apie jai svarbius politinius, socialinius, ekonominius įvykius, atstovaujančiu piliečių interesams ir formuojančiu visuomenės nuomonę bei kontroliuojančiu valdžios institucijų veiksmus. Korupcijos skandalai, valdžios pareigūnų piktnaudžiavimas tarnybine padėtimi, viešųjų ir privačiųjų interesų supainiojimas bei kitos problemos, nušviečiant politinio gyvenimo aktualijas, itin dažnai atsiduria žiniasklaidos akiratyje. Neigiamos informacijos vyravimas politinės komunikacijos kanaluose skatina visuomenės nusivylimą valdžios institucijomis ir nusišalinimą nuo politinio gyvenimo, taip pat nepasitikėjimą žiniasklaidos priemonėmis ir jose pateikiama informacija. Šiame straipsnyje aptariamas žiniasklaidos vaidmuo formuojant visuomenės nuomonę apie politikos problemas vietos ir šalies mastu, remiantis kiekybinio ir kokybinio tyrimo duomenimis, analizuojamas visuomenės žinojimas ir jo įtaka piliečių politiniam dalyvavimui The media are one of the most important sources of political information, as well as one of the main actors shaping and supporting public discourse in democratic society. From the normative perspective, the most fundamental democratic value of the media is to facilitate the development of an independent and open viewpoint in society by providing citizens with information on the issues of public concern, and controlling those who are in power to make decisions of public importance. Corruption scandals, misuse of power, mixing of public and private interests and other negative news encourage public disappointment with the authorities and citizens’ detachment from the political life. At the same time, this leads to public distrust in the media and the information they contain. The article addresses the role of the media in shaping the public opinion on political elite and institutions on the local and national levels. Based on the quantitative and qualitative data, it discusses the relationship between public awareness and political participation

Žiniasklaidos tyrimai – tarpdisciplininė mokslų sritis, todėl žiniasklaidos problemos, jos kaitos procesai, žiniasklaidos pranešimų poveikis bendruomenės viešosios erdvės formavimui domina ne tik komunikacijos, bet ir sociologijos, politikos, edukologijos ir kitų mokslų šakų tyrėjus. Šiuo metu viešojoje erdvėje netylančios kalbos apie žiniasklaidos transformacijas, jos pateikiamo turinio „komercialėjimo“, žiniasklaidos organizacijų vis didėjančio priklausymo nuo politikos ir verslo asociacijų problemas, paskatino atlikti dar vieną tyrimą, kurio pagrindinis tikslas buvo ištirti regioninės žiniasklaidos organizacijų veiklą ir nustatyti, kokią įtaką vietinės bendruomenės viešosios nuomonės formavimui daro vis labiau „komercialėjanti“, nuo politinių ir verslo organizacijų priklausoma žiniasklaida. Empirinis darbo tyrimas buvo orientuotas į gana nedidelio Lietuvos regiono – Alytaus miesto žiniasklaidą, gautus rezultatus lyginant su kitų regionų patirtimis. Tyrimo metu buvo atlikti 22 giluminiai kokybiniai interviu su žiniasklaidos organizacijų, jų auditorijos, žiniasklaidos stebėtojų atstovais. Buvo siekiama patikrinti, kiek žiniasklaidos tyrėjų anksčiau padarytos įžvalgos yra teisingos praktinėje nedidelio regiono žiniasklaidos veikloje bei išsiaiškinti, kokios galimos naujos problemos, grėsmės visuomenei slepiasi šiandieninėje regioninėje žiniasklaidoje. Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad regioninė žiniasklaida būdama geografiškai arčiausiai savo auditorijos gali daryti didelę įtaką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] Media studies is interdisciplinary science, so media problems, changes, influence to society is discussed between many researchers, who are specializing in Communication, Sociology, Politics, Education and many other sciences. There are a lot of talks about recent changes in media, media commercialization, growing influence by political and business organizations. This is research is yet another try to find out, how media is changing, how these changes affect society, what kind of influence businesses and political organizations have in media, how that influence changed in recent slow down in global economy. Empirical research object was media in Alytus, small region in Lithuania, and results were compared with similar regions. 22 follow-up qualitative interviews were carried out between members of media organizations, audience and experts. The main point was to check how theories and predictions, which were made by media experts earlier, work in practice in small regional media nowadays, what new problems are growing and what kind of damage they can do to local communities in near future. The results show, that regional media is very close to its audience geographically and can have a huge impact in formation of public sphere in local community, so the main problems are unclear connections between media and political, business organizations, which has influence in media reports, and media’s manipulation with ‘weakest’ audience in order to get a better sales and profit. A... [to full text]

Straipsnyje analizuojama moterų politinio atstovavimo situacija ir galimybės Lietuvoje. Remiantis Lietuvos ir užsienio mokslininkų (Matonytė 2002, 2007; Reingardienė 2004; Pateman 1988, 1989; Gal, Kligman 2000; Sapiro 2006 ir kt.) teorinėmis įžvalgomis, akcentuojama viešos ir privačios erdvių dichotomijos kaita kaip viena pagrindinių sąlygų, lemiančių moterų politinio atstovavimo raiškos galimybes. Straipsnyje pristatomi kokybinio tyrimo – moterų parlamentarių interviu – rezultatai. Tyrimas atskleidė Lietuvos parlamentarių akcentuojamas asmenines savybes, padėjusias įsitraukti į politiką: asmeninį aktyvumą visuomeniškumą, siekį spręsti aktualias visuomenės problemas bei tam tikrą aplinkos palaikymą paskatinimą prisijungti prie politinės veiklos. Išryškėjo, kad tokie aspektai kaip moteriško solidarumo stoka, tradiciniai stereotipiniai požiūriai į lyčių veiklų galimybes, kylantys dėl viešosios ir privačiosios erdvių takoskyros, riboja visavertį moterų politinį atstovavimą In 1919, Lithuanian women were granted full political rights, but these were restricted several years later, in 1926. During the Soviet times, public participation was dramatically reduced for both genders. After restoration of the Lithuania's independence in 1990, fundamental societal transformations created favorable conditions for the development of civic participation. As declared in the numerous national and international legal documents, both women and men enjoy equal rights to participate in all sorts of public and political activities. In Lithuanian case, women have never been totally excluded from the public sphere; however, their participation in public realm has been influenced by the patriarchal practices and women's attempt to adapt to masculine domination structures. The article is aimed at exploring opportunities of women's political representation, including gender position in public and private spheres, as well as social capital. In the empirical part, analysis of qualitative research data collected through the individual in-depth interviews with twenty Lithuanian women parliamentarians is presented. It attempts to answer the following questions: What are the conditions for women entering and acting in political sphere? What are the possibilities for women to gain leadership positions in the parliament structures? How do women assess the opportunities of political representation? The research revealed interesting insights regarding gender differences in politics. In the process of democratization, traditional attitudes towards gender roles and women's political representation prevail in the Lithuanian society. They are absorbed by different societal structures and institutions, for instance, the parliament and its activities. As the research shows, women are more likely to be involved in the sectors of social policy and education rather than in economics, finance, etc. in the parliament structures. In the post-communist society women encounter particular conditions affecting their opportunities of political representation. Officially, favorable conditions for gender equality have been set up on the national and international level, however, the lack of political culture, as well as the lack of women's solidarity reduce the scope of political representation among women. It appears that women's solidarity has a significant effect on women's engagement in politics. Informants pointed out the lack of gender solidarity during the electoral period and in their parliamentary work. Gender roles and activities are usually discussed through the framework of already existing stereotypical thinking. However, deliberate acknowledgement and acceptance of one's prejudices is a crucial condition in changing stereotypical thinking

Interneto vartotojų skaičius per pastaruosius 8 metus išaugo daugiau negu 2,5 karto ir dabar siekia beveik penktadalį pasaulio gyventojų. Tai reiškia, jog internetas tampa visa vis svarbesne erdve bendraujant, ieškant informacijos, dirbant ar poilsiaujant. Ne veltui, įvairios kompanijos siekdamos būti pastebėtos pirmiausia siekia atsirasti internete, o tik paskui rūpinasi savo reklama. Būti internete, reiškia, būti pastebėtu. Nedaug nustebino ir tai, kad Lietuvos interneto erdvėje pradėtos kurti ne tik komercinių įmonių, bet ir žiniasklaidos bendrovių elektroninės dienraščių versijos ar nuo jų nepriklausomi interneto naujienų tinklalapiai. Laisvas ir nepriklausomas internetas reiškė, kad kiekvienas individas, turintis priėjimą prie kompiuterių tinklo, galės laisvai ir nevaržomai reikšti nuomonę, dalyvauti diskusijose, paveikti valdžios struktūras ir pan. Internetas reiškė naujas galimybes viešajai erdvei – pagrindinei demokratijos sąlygai – atgimti ir plėtoti. Tradicinė žiniasklaida nuvylė ir ilgainiui iš politinio diskurso bei debatų skatintojos tapo politinio spektaklio teatru. Darbo tikslas atskleisti, kaip Lietuvos internetinių naujienų tinklalapių www.delfi.lt ir www.lrytas.lt straipsniai atitinka viešosios erdvės koncepciją bei kokį poveikį žiniasklaida turi viešojo diskurso kūrimui internete. Šiam tikslui atkleisti buvo atliktas kiekybinis ir kokybinis turinio analizės tyrimas, kurio esmė buvo atrasti atsakymą į klausimą, kokio pobūdžio informacija dominuoja... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] The number of Internet users has grown rapidly over last 8 years and at the moment embraces more than one fifth of world’s population. By no means, Internet becomes more important in the terms of communication, searching for information, working or resting. This also encouraged growing number of companies to present themselves on the internet prior to taking care of advertising campaigns, since being online in nowadays means existing. Therefore, not that it was a great surprise to observe the appearance of online sites for well-known business corporations or to meet the online versions of public newspapers. Free and independent Internet from the very beginning meant open possibilities for every individual with an access to the computer network to express itself, to take part in public debates and to have a chance to influence the authorities in order to accomplish the mission of public interest. Nevertheless, Internet also meant new opportunities to develop the main element of democratic society and state – it was a chance for public sphere to come back into force, because traditional means of media have been disappointing lately due to the process where the main subject public discourse and debate was replaced by tiresome political performance. The main objective of this thesis is to reveal the background for analysis to uncover the role of Internet media for creating the discourse online, and also what the results on how the Internet news portal of Lithuania www.delfi.lt... [to full text]

Straipsnio tikslas - pristatyti pagrindinius viešosios sferos teorijos teiginius, išnagrinėti jos taikymo galimybes ir būdus žiniasklaidos tyrimuose bei Lietuvos laikraščių tyrimui nepriklausomybės atkūrimo metu ir vėliau. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama viešosios sferos teorija kaip teorinis pagrindas Lietuvos laikraščių raidos nuo 1988 metų tyrimui. Akivaizdu, kad nepriklausomybės atkūrimo metu, nuo 1988 metų iki 1991 m. pabaigos, spauda išgyveno pakilimo laikotarpį. Smarkiai išaugo laikraščių skaičius ir tiražai, spaudoje vyko intensyvios diskusijos visuomenei reikšmingomis temomis. Nepriklausomybės įtvirtinimo etape, maždaug nuo 1991 metų pabaigos, periodinės spaudos pobūdis keitėsi. Sumažėjo laikraščių skaitymas, nuslūgo diskusijos, spaudoje reiškėsi komercializacijos ir koncentracijos tendencijos. Šiems ir vėlesnių metų pokyčiams aprašyti gerai tinka viešosios sferos sąvoka ir viešosios sferos teorija. The puropose of this article is to introduce basic propositions of the public sphere, and to analyze the possibilities and means the public sphere may be applied within media research as well as to Lithuania's newspaper research during and after Lithuania’s restoration of its independence. The theory of the public sphere is examined and used as a theoretical backbone within the article. When Lithuania reaffirmed its independence (1988–late 1991), the country's press quite obvioulsy survived a period of upheavel. The number of newspapers and their circulations skyrocketed, and an intense discussion took place, a discussion whose topics were of great concern to society. During the period Lithuania solidified its independence (more or less since the end of 1991), the press's character has changed. The reading public has diminished, dicussions have abated while the press has been portraying tendencies associated with commercialization and saturation. The concept and theory of the public sphere are therefore very appropriate when describing those changes noted above as well those that were to occur later. The concept of the public sphere, especially in the German language, has a rather long history. However, when analyzing its use in contempory sociological theory, particualarly when applying it to media analysis, it is agreed that research generally began with Jürgen Habermas and his work, "The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere", (Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit, 1962; new edition, 1990.) Utilizing the concept of the public sphere as a basis for media research, its empirical application is a tremendous problem: until now, there is hardly any information which would empirically examine the public sphere. More specifically, it goes unsaid that a great deal of research has analyzed different narrow apsects of the media as well as public discourse, both of which comply to the field of the public sphere (e.g. the discourse of separate topics, narrower theoretical views such as schedule construction, etc.). Nevertheless, there is a lack of research which would determine the essential features of the public sphere and would thereby empirically investigate the public sphere as such. Consequently, the author is of the belief that a means is in need of being found in order to apply the theory of the public sphere. It would first and foremost decribe the public sphere and its essential, central concepts, allowing one to investigate the public sphere itself - and not simply a single apsect of a discourse within the public sphere. Secondly, it would describe the public sphere in specific terms which when used in empirical research would comply with its concepts. The content in the article is supported by the analytical public sphere model formulated by Friedhelm Neidhardt (1994). F. Neidhardt distinguished four aspects of the public sphere: the arena of the public sphere (the phyiscal and symbolic spaces in which participants of the public sphere meet), the media, the public, and the speakers. In this article, F. Neidhardt’s applied list is modified: media shall be incorporated within the arena of the public sphere - as the media is only one of the spaces of the public sphere, though indeed an important one. Hence, according to this model three public sphere structural elements are distinguished, each of which truly normative requirements are applicable: arena of the open sphere, or channels, actors, the public. [...] In the attempt to convey the directions of public sphere theory as applied to the development of Lithuanian newspapers, some features of Lithuanian newspapers are presented according to their abstract research dimensions. In Lithuania, during the post-communist years of transformation (i.e. Lithuanian’s reaffirmation of its independence and afterwards) the public sphere developed anew - the space where topics of importance to society are communicated. As Lithuania reasserted its independence (i.e. from 1988 onwards), the character of the country's public sphere began to change: expressions from governing and alternative public spheres began to take form as a new inclusive - though like before, uncontrollable - public sphere, which nevertheless, retained its functions. It is possible to apply this phenomenon, namely the development of Lithuanian newspapers during Lithuania's struggle for independence (1988-1991) as well as the time period which followed (as Lithuania consolidated its independence) to research of the public sphere and its normative model model. During the years Lithuania reaffirmed its independence, newspapers conformed more to the normative requirements of the public sphere than the period that was to follow. Thus, the theory of the public sphere offers a new viewpoint to media studies which when used in empirical media research may be quite productive. The normative model of the public sphere, especially its analytical portion, may convey new - until now unresearched - aspects of the development of Lithuanian newspapers from 1988 into the 1990s when Lithuania solidified its independence.

Alain Finkielkraut is considered as one of the most important figures in the intellectual scene of French socio-political thought. Our aim here was to present his work as rooted in the philosophical thinking of both Emmanuel Lévinas and Hannah Arendt. Therefore, we emphasized the connection between Finkielkraut’s analysis of the crisis of contemporary culture and his interpretation of Lévinas’s philosophical thought, as well as Arendt’s which, we believe, does not seem obvious. In the first part of our paper, we focused on the main notions developed by Arendt and Lévinas that also became essential to Finkielkraut’s critical approach – which is the notion of Otherness, responsibility, justice, understanding of politics and public sphere. We attempted to grasp the connection between two crucial issues: his ethical-political reading of Lévinas, as well as Arendt’s thought and his critical approach applied to investigate socialcultural situations, states and events. By doing so, we attempted to not only demonstrate the aptness and importance of Finkielkraut’s readings of Lévinas and Arendt that constitute considerable contributions to understanding both thinkers, but also the originality of his work that, as we believe, is of great relevance to the dilemmas of (post)modernity. The second part is based on different efforts to illustrate with examples the way the notions derived at the level of philosophical thinking are translated into the social-political mode of interpretation introduced by Finkielkraut. The necessarily selective presentation of examples starts with the issue of contemporary crisis of education. Then we deal with Finkielkraut’s concept of imaginary Jew, to pass on to the reflection on the idea of humanity and associated with the former criticism of the so called sentimental reason. In all the aforementioned examples, the notion of Otherness, as we demonstrated, plays a crucial role, be it the reflection devoted to the Jewish identity or to the idea of humanity. In his analysis, an author of In the Name of the Other insists that the exaggerated interpretations of Otherness often lead to a crisis in many spheres of socio-political practice, not to mention that they also lead to misreadings of Lévinas’s thought. With the notion of humanity, Finkielkraut not only refers directly to Lévinas’s philosophical thought on the notion of Otherness, but also to Arendt’s political thinking, which seems easier to omit. To make the way Arendt and Lévinas provide Finkielkraut’s commentary with a deep philosophical background more visible, we shall quote the answer given to his opponents, who we call the defenders of the Other at all costs: “(…) j’ai envie de rappeler, avec Hannah Arendt, que ce n’est pas l’homme gui habite la Terre, mais le hommes dans leur pluralité infinie, et avec Lévinas, le philosophe par excellence de l’alterité, qu’il y a toujours péril à mettre les nomes propres sous la coupe d’un nom commun fût-ce le nom de l’Autre”.

Pastaruoju metu klausimas, ar yra realių galimybių susikurti vieningai viešajai erdvei Europoje, kuri padėtų sumažinti atotrūkį tarp ES politinių institucijų ir piliečių, tapo labai aktualiu. Šio straipsnio tikslas – apžvelgti pastarojo meto normatyvinius teorinius demokratinei Europos viešajai erdvei keliamus reikalavimus, pristatant tris modelius – kultūrinį-idealistinį, liberalųjį-atstovaujamąjį ir pilietinio diskurso – bei išsiaiškinti, kurie iš šių modelių bei su jais susijusių teorinių svarstymų taikomi šiuolaikiniuose ES politinės komunikacijos tyrimuose. Taip pat pateikiami duomenys iš Europos Komisijos finansuoto mokslinio projekto „Adekvati informacijos vadyba Europoje“ (angl. Adequate Information Management in Europe, www.aim-project.net), kuriame dalyvavo tyrėjai iš dešimties Europos šalių ir kurio tikslas buvo nustatyti žiniasklaidos priemonių vaidmenį informuojant visuomenę apie Europos Sąjungą. Tyrimas parodė, jog yra realių galimybių žiniasklaidai, tiek Lietuvos, tiek ir kitų šalių, tapti aktyviu europinės viešosios erdvės kūrėju. Išanalizavus po tris 2005 m. kovo 7-27 d. skirtingo pobūdžio dešimties Europos šalių dienraščius bei dvi nacionalinių televizijų žiūrimiausias žinių laidas, pastebėta, jog iš esmės Europos šalių žiniasklaida skiria dėmesio ES aktualijoms, tačiau šios informacijos pateikiama neregulairiai, mažai ir nepakankamai išsamios. Viso to rezultatas yra reikiamos informacijos stygius, kuris neleidžia įvairių tautybių piliečiams susiorientuoti ES politiniame procese bei pilnaverčiai dalyvauti europinės politikos formavime. The question whether there any possibilities for creating in Europe the unified public space which would lessen the gap between the political institutions of the EU and the citizens has acquired new relevance. The article reviews the recent normative theoretical requirements about the public space of the democratic Europe. Three models – cultural-idealist, liberal-representative, and civil discourse model – are introduced. The article seeks to clarify which of these models and theoretical considerations are used in modern research on the EU political communication. Also presented are the data from the scientific project “Adequate Information Management in Europe” (www.aim-project.net), financed by the EC. The aim of the project was to define the media role in informing the public about the EU. The research has shown that there are some real possibilities for media, both in Lithuania and other countries, to become an active architect of the European public space. After analyzing three different newspapers from each of the ten European countries and two most watched national television programs – all scanning the period of 7-27 March, 2005 – it was observed that the media of the European countries does pay attention to the EU issues. However, their information, besides being given at irregular intervals, has not been sufficient or detailed enough. As a result, there has been shortage of the needed information. This shortage prevents citizens of different nations from adjusting to the political process of the EU and from becoming a full-fledged participant in the formation of the European politics.

Straipsnis skirtas informacijos visuomenės sampratos pamatinių metodologinių-aksiologinių charakteristikų atodangai. Jame parodoma, pirma, kad labiausiai paplitusi informacijos visuomenės samprata yra grindžiama egzistencine informacijos visuomenės kaip realaus fenomeno ir jo nelygstamos svarbos prielaida ir, antra, kad tokia egzistencinė-aksiologinė prielaida yra artikuliuojama įprastinio, liberalaus socialdemokratinio, moderniojo ideologinio diskurso terminais. Straipsnyje kritiškai aptariama ir viešoji informacijos visuomenės sampratos vartosena nūdienėje Lietuvoje. The article deals with fundamental methodological and axiological characteristics of the information society's concept. It argues, first, that the most widespread understanding of the information society dwells on the existential presupposition, which sensu stricto implausibly posits information society, tentatively endowed with an utmost societal importance, as an already real phenomenon in status nascendi. Second, that such an existential-axiological assumption is articulated along the lines of modern ideological discourse, i.e. in terms of mainstream liberal-socialdemocratic controversies. An article also puts under critical comparative scrutiny the usage of information society's concept in the public sphere of nowadays Lithuania.

The article seeks to demonstrate the changes in the conception of relations between science and politics in the 20 th century German tradition of social philosophy. This tradition encompasses Max Weber, Karl Mannheim, Frankfurt School and Jürgen Habermas. The analysis of their works revealed that Weber’s neutral attitude towards the political role of science had experienced couple of transformations. First, Weber’s idea of science as a political instrument was radicalized in Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge. In the latter science as an institution is conceived much more positively because it can replace politics by controllable administration. Second, Frankfurt School denies the mannheimian optimism stressing the negative consequences of that substitution: scientific rationalism invades social and political life at the same time ignoring qualitative aspects that are so important in political field. And, finally, trying to breakthrough the one-sided negativism of elder colleagues in Frankfurt School, Habermas restores weberian attitude towards instrumental character of science. In order to elude the dominance of science two steps are of crucial importance: repoliticization of public sphere and removing restrictions on communication.