Twitter For Political Activation in Pakistan.

Twitter for Development of Democracy
Twitter as a public sphere bridging gap between the politicians and the citizens in Pakistan
Naeem Iqbal
Communication for Development 1

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Supervisor: Michael Krona
Abstract
In the given research, an attempt is made to study the use of twitter in Pakistan by politicians
to engage with public for political discourse. In recent years, there has been widely
acceptance of new media by politicians to reach out to public who is otherwise least
interested in Pakistan political discourse.
A political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf aka Pakistan Movement for Justice is chosen as a
study case in the given research. The aim of the given study is to analyse the use of twitter by
politicians for two-ways communication with public in Pakistan and to explore the extent to
which twitter in Pakistan fulfills the ‘Institutional Criteria’ of Habermas’s public sphere.
The conceptual and theoretical discussion assumes that new media has emerged as an
alternative to mass media to offer a public sphere to general public to engage and participate
in debate on matters of common concerns. This engagement and participation of public in
political discourses are important for the development of democracy in Pakistan.
Following a mixed method approach, quantitative and qualitative content analysis are
conducted by adopting the Grounded Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967). The study
concludes that politicians in Pakistan use twitter for one-way communication mostly and
rarely for two-ways communication with public. Further more, twitter in Pakistan fulfills the
‘Institutional criteria’ set by Habermas for the public sphere.
Keywords: Twitter, New Media, Public Sphere, Democracy, Mass Media, Pakistan, PTI

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Table of Contents
1. CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 4

1.1. Background 5
1.2. Research Question 8
1.3. Significance 9
1.4. Limitations 10
1.5. Disposition 11
2. CHAPTER TWO - LITERATURE REVIEW 13
3. CHAPTER THREE - METHODOLOGY 16
4. CHAPTER FOUR - MAIN CONCEPTS & THEORIES 24
4.1. Jurgen Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere 24
4.1.1. Habermas’s Concept of the Public Sphere 25
4.1.2. Preconditions for the Public Sphere 26
4.1.3. Decay of the Public Sphere 27
4.1.4. Leads of New Media in Habermas’s Work 30
4.1.5. Critical Debate on Habermas’s concept of the Public Sphere 30
4.2. Mass Media, Public Sphere & Democracy 32
4.2.1. Define Democracy 33
4.2.2. Public Sphere & Democracy 33
4.2.3. Mass Media for the Public Sphere & Democracy 35
4.3. New Media, Public Sphere & Democracy 36
4.3.1. Define New Media 37
4.3.2. New Media as the Public Sphere 39
4.3.3. New Media for the Development of Democracy 41
5. CHAPTER FIVE - ANALYSIS 45
6. CHAPTER SIX - CONCLUSION 54
7. REFERENCES 57
8. APPENDIX 62

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
1. CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION
Realising the decline in public interest, trust and participation in the democratic politics, the
political leadership and their parties around the globe left with no option but to adapt
mediums other than contemporary mediums to engage the general public in order to overcome
the deficits and to revitalise democracy. In late 20th century and early 21st century, the
emergence of new media, i.e. interactive Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, microblogging,
social networks, and image and video sharing sites, have increasingly been enlisted for the
public engagement in what is termed e-democracy (Kearns 2002).
In 20th century, mass media became a recognised forum for the political leadership to carry
their message, agenda or manifesto to the general public. However, the mass media failed to
provide a ‘public sphere’ proposed by Habermas (1989) as a space in which citizens could
come together and could engage in deliberative critical debate to be informed and so be abled
contribute to political discourse, and built consensus expressed in the form of ‘public
opinion.’ The ‘public sphere’ described by Habermas as ‘part of the bedrock of liberal
democracies (1989 p. 36), was compromised by the mass media. The information flow in
mass media was predominantly vertical or unidirectional from top to bottom. The vast
commercial interests, political affiliations, authoritarian/dictatorial regimes were the other
factors which limited the access and discouraged the active political participation and
deliberative dialogue within the public sphere. However, the advent of social media and rapid
growth of internet provided an opportunity to politicians to break away from the ‘top down’
politics. The social media provided a sphere for a dialogue between politicians and active
citizens and thus it provided an arena where public discourse can take place and public
opinion, as its function, can be formed’ (McQuail, 2005, p. 150 - 151).
In last decade, the role of social media for the participatory democracy and against the
authoritarian regimes has been distinguished and recognised. For instance, in US Presidential
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Election Campaigns 2000 and 2004, social media used by the politicians as a major medium
to reach out to the public and as a public sphere for larger public participation on political
discourses. Whereas in Arab Spring 2010 - 2011, social and political activists used social
media as an alternative media to put across the message, to organise and to mobilise the
general public, civil society and International opinion for people-participatory democracy
when authoritarian regimes managed to control mass media.
Following the developments in regional and international political arena, political activists
and politicians in Pakistan began to use the social media tools as an alternative media to reach
out to the public for larger participation in opinion-making on the matters of public interests.
In the given study, the use of twitter by the politicians to engage the public is examined.
1.1. Background
Through out 67 years of Pakistan history, a large section of the ruling class, political
organisations and the groups of civil society supported the norms and concepts of the
democracy. The representative governance and participatory decision-making in the political
and economic fields have been a demand of the political circles. However, the demand could
never been materialized due to some serious problems with these principles at the operational
level. Since 1950s, the power structure and governance style often neglected these principles.
Most rulers both civilian and military, pursued personalisation of power and authoritarian
style of governance, assigning a high premium to most loyal personal keeping merit aside and
uncritical acceptance of what the ruler or the party chief decided. This was coupled with
partisan use of state apparatus and resource, and an elitist and exploitative socio-economic
system (Askari 2015).
Pakistan political system has experienced successive conflicts between the professed
democractic values, harsh realities of authoritarianism, and as a result non-sustainable civilian
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
institutions and processes over the years. However, despite the long spells of authoritarianism
and dictatorship, the theoretical commitment to democracy and participatory governance has
persisted in Pakistan. None of the two political trends has been able to overwhelm each other.
If democratic set up failed is delivering, the dictatorship and authoritarianism could not be
accepted by the society as an alternative governance system. This endangers the hope that the
overall commitment to democracy would continue to persist as one of the most cherished
norms in the polity and a governance system that falters on democracy would not be able to
cultivate voluntary popular support (ibad).
Despite desire for democracy, public in general accepted the military takeovers over the
successive period of time in Pakistan. The main reason for public acceptance of military rule
has been the disconnect of politicians from the public. The politicians through the
contemporary means of political activities could only deliver ‘one-way’ or ‘top down’
message without providing an opportunity to mass general public participation in the political
dialogue. Furthermore, mass media (print and electronic media) in Pakistan has been under
authoritarian regime control. Until 2000, Pakistan had only state-owned electronic media with
print media under strict censorship. Mass media could not offer a public sphere that could
bring the politicians and the general public close together to participate and engage in political
discourses. Political leadership failed to establish deep rooted connection with the citizens and
that is why military regimes managed to takeover four democratic governments in Pakistan
with a little resistance from the general public.
Pakistan’s political history can be divided into different phases with reference to the dominant
style of governance and political management:
 Civil Political Government: Aug 1947 to Oct 1958, Dec 1971 to July 1977;

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
 Direct Military Rule: Oct 1958 to June 1962, Mar 1969 to Dec 1971, July 1977 to Dec
2002;
 Selective use of Democracy by the Military: Jun 1962 to Mar 1969, Mar 1985 to Nov
1988;
 Civilian Governments under Military Influence: Dec 1988 to Oct 1999;
 Military’s direct involvement in power management: Nov 2002 to date. (Askari 2015)
However in last few years, there have been some positive changes occurred in Pakistan
political arena with the emergence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) aka Pakistan Movement
for Justice as a 3rd political force in Pakistan. The Chairman PTI Imran Khan, a graduate in
philosophy, politics and economics from Keble College, one of the constituent colleges of
Oxford University, UK, experienced and learnt from Westminster politics that Pakistan could
not have a real strong democracy until and unless the commoners of Pakistan were made apart
of political system. PTI registered as a political organisation in Pakistan in 1996. Despite
being the most popular celebrity in Pakistan and putting all efforts, Imran Khan could not
made road into the political landscape of Pakistan until 2009-10. However, following the
patterns of international and regional politics behavior, Imran Khan understood that his
popularity was among youth who were mostly educated middle class citizen. The traditional
and contemporary ways of political communication were least attractive for youth. Therefore,
PTI approached the youth through social media which turned out to be remarkably positive.
PTI gained tremendous support in urban areas especially youth and educated middle class of
Pakistan. PTI set new trends in Pakistani politics by adopting social media for political
activism, organisation, information sharing, mass engagement and participation of the general
public in the politics. Abbasi (2013) claims that PTI was one the first parties to launch
themselves on social media. According to Michaelsen (2012, p. 43), PTI led by former cricket
star Imran Khan is the most active political organisation on the internet. PTI is using social
media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, Blogger, Myspace, Linkedin and
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
many others for mobilisation of collective action and the creation, organisation and
implementation of social movements (Abbasi 2013). Due to his extensive media presence and
a discourse underscored by populism, Imran Khan abled to attract a significant following of
mainly young people along with well educated, white collar professionals from lower middle
and middle class.
Following the growing popularity of PTI, other political parties followed the trend of social
media activism. As a result, every major political party has its presence on new media (Iqbal
2014, p. 5). Dominant social media forums for political discourse in Pakistan are facebook
and twitter. Facebook at large is being used for information sharing only. Whereas, twitter has
become the most adopted microblogging application in Pakistan. The increasing use of twitter
by politicians, political strategists and citizens in Pakistan has made it an important party of
networked sphere in which political issues are publicly negotiated. Among the political parties,
top leadership of PTI is the most active on twitter in political dialogue with the political
activists and the general public. There are 288 registered political parties in Pakistan
according to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP 2015) but Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
has been chosen as a study case for this degree project. The reason of doing so is the
activeness of PTI leadership and their massive following on social media as compare to other
political parties because the most active users provide the most relevant sample. Less active
social media users often provide small samples of content.
1.2. Research Question
Pakistan democractic journey as discussed above indicates that public who desires for
democratic governing system, is least interest in the political discourse. The main reason is
the non-availability of public sphere for political discourse. Mass media under strict
authoritarian control and commercialization does not offer the public sphere for debate and

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
dialogue to common citizens for the public discourse. In recent years, new media has
developed in Pakistan rapidly and its use for the political activism is being acknowledged.
In this study, an attempt is made to examine the use of twitter as the public sphere by
politicians in Pakistan to interact and engage with general public for political discourse. For
doing so, the case of a political party named as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is analysed
who claimed to be the pioneer in introducing social media or alternative media tools in
Pakistan politics to encourage greater public participation in Pakistan political process
(Farooq 2014). By studying and analysing case of PTI, an answer to given below main
research question is explored;
To what extent Twitter is being used as a public sphere for two ways communication
between the politicians and the citizens in Pakistan?
The research question is divided into two parts. In first part, quantitative content analysis is
conducted to determine if twitter in Pakistan is being used for two-ways communication
between the politicians and the citizen. In second part, qualitative content analysis is
conducted to determine if twitter in Pakistan fulfills the ‘Institutional Criteria’ of the public
sphere set by Habermas (1989). For quantitative content analysis and qualitative content
analysis, Grounded Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967) is adopted which is discussed in
detail in Chapter 3 - Methodology.
1.3. Significance
In last two decades, there have been number of researches conducted on new media
applications and their use for the strengthening of democracy or/and public participation in
democratic process in different parts of the world. However, only a few researches have been
conducted on the role of new media for development of democracy in Pakistan in particular.
After searching through engines given below, it is safe to claim that this research is first of its
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
kind so far. This claim is based on my research conducted by using following search engines:
Malmo University Library, ComDev Degree Projects Collection, Wiley Online Library,
Gothenburg University Library, Google Scholar and WorldCat.
Furthermore, this essay may serve as a foundation for further research on other new media
applications and their contribution for new media activism and strengthening and
development of democratic process in Pakistan and other countries similar circumstances.
1.4 Limitations
The topics like new media, democracy and public sphere are huge and can be study from
various aspects and perspectives. Given the scope of the degree project, it is necessary to set a
few limitation to narrow down the research to make it result oriented.
First of all, the given study is being conducted on a particular country, i.e. Pakistan. Therefore,
conclusion of the given research may not be the same for other countries. Secondly, new
media comprises of number of applications which are facebook, twitter, YouTube, Instagram,
Linkedin and many more. However, research conducted in the given degree project from the
twitter perspective only. Therefore, any research that conducted using application other than
twitter may have varying outcome. For instance, Facebook is the most popular social media
application in general but not commonly used application by the top politicians themselves.
Facebook pages that are associated with the politicians in Pakistan are mostly administer and
managed by political activists with or without permission of politicians. However, twitter
profiles are mostly managed by the politicians themselves in Pakistan. Though most popular
politicians have more than one twitter profiles administer by their fans or opponents for
propaganda.
Thirdly, choice of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as study case in the given research is due to
activism of its leaders on twitter in particular. Not all the political parties in Pakistan are using
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
twitter as a forum to reach out the general public for political discourse. Therefore, results of
the given research can not be generalized for politicians from other political parties in
Pakistan.
Fourthly, twitter profiles of only 10 top PTI office bearers are selected to examine in the given
research instead of examining profiles of all PTI office bearers who have presence on twitter.
Therefore, results of the given research may vary for PTI politicians other than 10 top PTI
office bearers.
1.5 Disposition
In order to make essay clearer, understandable and approachable, the given essay is structured
into following chapters:
First chapter of the given essay is an ‘Introduction’ in which an attempt is made to provide
background information to motivate the reader and audiences to read the entire study.
According to Creswell (2003, p. 73), it provides a plan for the research, so that readers will be
able to understand how the study is different and related to other research. In introduction,
background of topic is discussed which lead to the formation of research question. Further
more, significance and limitation of this research are highlighted in the first chapter.
The ‘Literature Review’ is conducted in the second chapter with the purpose to find and learn
more about the topic and check whether research is made on same question or topic (Creswell
2003, p. 29). The previous related study makes it possible for reader to try to connect the
study with previous studies by the filling gaps (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). According to
Creswell (2003, p. 46), the literature review helps the researcher to review the research idea
and shows methodological techniques to problems specific to the research problem that will
help in designing the study.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
After second chapter, ‘Methodology’ is discussed in chapter three of this essay. The purpose
of methodology chapter is to explain which and why methodology is chosen, and why chose
not use other methods.
The chapter four provides detailed discussion on the ‘Main concepts and theories’, namely
public sphere, new media, and democracy. This discussion is significant for readers to
understand the connection among the concepts, theories and their relevance for this research.
After chapter four, next is the chapter five in which ‘Analysis’ conducted is presented. The
purpose of this chapter is to present the analysis, the tools utilized for obtaining results so that
reader can understand and interpret the conclusions and significance with the help of the
tables, graphs, charts and statistics extracted from the interpretation and analysis of the data.
Finally is the chapter six in which the ‘Conclusions’ drawn are presented in reference to the
objectives and the research problem discussed in first chapter. In conclusion, it is pointed out
what is found and what is not found, with the discussion on the perspective of further research
on topic. (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005).

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
2- CHAPTER TWO - LITERATURE REVIEW
This study is an attempt to analyse the use of social media application - Twitter as a public
sphere by the politicians in Pakistan for two-ways communication with the public. As
mentioned above in first chapter while discussing the ‘Significance’ of the research that there
has not been any research conducted on the topic in question in this project.
However, there are studies conducted which discuss the phenomena of new media activism in
Pakistan politics. For Instance, Michaelsen (2011) in his report discussed role of old media
and new media to consolidate the democracy in Pakistan and concluded that ‘internet use in
Pakistan is still restricted by low levels of education, an underdeveloped infrastructure, and
the restricted purchasing power of society's poorer section.’ His study could not see ‘the
internet as a major remedy for the development of political culture and civil society that is so
essential for Pakistan’s further democratic consolidation.’ Similarly, Kugelman (2012) wrote
a NOREF Report on ‘Social media in Pakistan’ in which he discussed that why social media
tools then in Pakistan could not produced large-scale change and concluded that new media
resources stimulated political communication in Pakistan. However, after a year, Eijaz (2013)
conducted a study to ‘explore the usage patterns of new media by political parties of Pakistan
and its impact on the dynamics of Pakistan politics’ and concluded to ‘establish a positive
correlation between political mobilization and new media usage among educated youth.’
Taking on further the study of Eijaz (2013), the research in this project is analysing the
current use of microblogging site - Twitter as a public sphere by the politicians in Pakistan to
interact and engage with the public. So, when it comes to ‘Public Sphere,’ discussion can not
complete without considering the theories of Jurgen Habermas. For this research, Habermas’s
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1989) is adopted which provides in-
depth conceptual and theoretical understanding of public sphere. Along with Habermas

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
(1989), the study, ‘Rethinking the Media as a Public Sphere’ of Fraser (1990) provides further
elaboration about the concept of ‘Public Sphere’. Debatim (2008) study on ‘The Internet as a
New Platform for Expressing Public Opinions and as a New Public Sphere’ is another
important contribution that is used in this research.
Further more, an article ‘The Social Media as a Public Sphere: The Rise of Social
Opposition,’ written by Dr. A. Fulya Sen, Assistant Professor at Firat University, is an
exciting piece of work about the conceptual discussion on the Habermas’s public sphere and
the emergence of new public sphere in the form of new media. The conceptual discussion
given in mentioned article is utilized in the given research to lay ground to elaborate the
theory of the Public Sphere. Similarly, Douglas Kellner, who is the professor of Philosophy at
the Columbia University, explicated Habermas’s concept of the Public Sphere and its
structural transformation in an essay ‘Habermas, the Public Sphere, and Democracy: A
Critical Intervention.’ He in his essay intended to point out the continues importance of
Habermas’s problematic and critical debates over democratic politics, social and cultural life
in the current era. His work is used to discussed the critical views about the Habermas’s
public sphere concepts in the given study.
Furthermore, new media and the participatory democracy are other main components of this
research. New Media is well defined and conceptualised by Lievrouw (2011) in her book,
‘Alternative and Activist New Media.’ The nexus of themes ‘democracy, citizenship, the
media and journalism’ has developed in last two decades. The phenomenon is skillfully
explained in ‘Reclaiming the Media: Communication Rights and Democratic Media Roles,’
edited by Bart Cammaerts and Nico Carpentier in 2007. The book provides a detailed
discussion on relationship among the media, new media, democracy and public sphere, is
utilized in the given study to elaborate the concepts. Latest and very close to the given
research is the thesis ‘Twitter and the European Public Sphere: Twitter as a digital salon?’ in
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
which Truus Smits made an attempt to explore the use of twitter in the European context and
related this to the concept of the public sphere. Her study is used in the given research to
discuss the concepts of the public sphere and emergence of the Twitter as a new public sphere.
Further more, Leighninger (2011) in essay, ‘Citizenship and governance in a wild, weird
world’ discussed ‘how should citizens and public managers use online tools to improve
democracy?’ Another exciting book, ‘Young Citizens and New Media: Learning for
Democratic Participation’, by Dahlgren (2010) discussed ‘the role that new information and
communication technology (ICTs) might play in the process whereby young people learn to
engage in the life of democracy.’ The study is fresh piece of research on internet impact on
development of democracy. For the methodology section, the literature consist on the book,
‘Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research’ by Creswell & Clark (2007). In the
book, authors cover the entire research process, from formulating questions to designing,
collecting data and interpreting results.
In the given paper, all mentioned literature is used along with other relevant and supporting
research, peer reviewed articles, project reports and newspaper articles. The literature is
mostly used to lay ground and to elaborate the concepts of theme of the given research.
Sampling quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis is gathered from the microblogging
site - Twitter which is analysed, explained and concluded in the perspective of theories and
concepts given in the mentioned literature.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
3. CHAPTER THREE - METHODOLOGY
To find answer for the research question, the content analysis of microblogging site - twitter is
carried out through the mixed method approach by adopting the Grounded Theory of Glaser
and Strauss (1967). Mixed methods research, according to Creswell & Clark (2007, p. 5), is a
research design in which both qualitative and quantitative research methods combined to
collect, analyse, interpret and report data. The central premise of the mixed method research is
that the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches in combination provides a better
understanding of research problems than either approach alone. Furthermore, mixed methods
research provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative
research. Similarly, it provides more comprehensive evidence for studying a research problem
than either quantitative or qualitative research alone. The use of multiple worldviews or
paradigms in the mixed method researchers rather the typical association of certain paradigms
for quantitative researchers and others for qualitative researchers. Moreover, mixed method
research is ‘practical’ in the sense that use of all methods possible to address a research
problem.
For this project, first stage of mixed method research is quantitative content analysis which is
defined by Berelson (1952, p. 489) as, ‘a research technique for the objective, systematic, and
quantitative description of the manifest content of communication.’ Holsti (1968, p. 14) says
that content analysis is ‘any technique for making inferences by systematically and
objectively identifying specified characteristics of messages.’ Lasswell (1948, p. 12) best put
the content analysis is about, ‘Who says what, through which channel, to whom, with what
effect’.
General assumption about the quantitative content analysis is that it starts with word
frequencies, space measurements (in case of newspapers), time counts (for radio and

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
television time) and keyword frequencies. But according to Neuendorf (2002, p. 10), ‘content
analysis is [...] not limited as to the types of variables that may be measured or the context in
which the message are created or presented.’ With the advent of new media, type and form of
data collected for the content analysis are deviated from the traditional parameters of data
gathering which can be experience in the given project.
In the given research, for instance, quantitative data such as the number of ‘followers’,
‘following’ and ‘tweets’ are gathered to explore and analyse the ‘Interactivity’ of politicians
with the public using microblogging site - Twitter. This step of quantitative analysis is to
determine one way or two ways communication between the politicians and the public.
Further in quantitative analysis is to examine the ‘retweets’, ‘favorites’ and ‘replies’ of
politicians to the public to determine ‘Engagement’ and ‘Responsiveness’ of politicians and
public. Microsoft Excel as an instrument is utilized in the given project to record data and the
SmartDraw software is used to process data in form of tables, comparative charts and graphs.
Data is gathered from twitter profiles of the politicians by using Twitonomy software.
Quantitative content analysis greatly serves the purpose of turning large data sets into less
abstract forms, the method has certain disadvantages. It may lead to a neglect of qualitative
explorations (Zuilhof 2013). Furthermore, quantitative data can tell us many things, but in
some cases qualitative analysis of data is necessary for further comprehension (Kracauer
1952). Therefore, in second stage of the given project, qualitative content analysis is
conducted.
Qualitative content analysis according to (Hsieh & Shannon 2005), focuses on the informal
content of a text. It is about extracting meaning that can not be read when solely focusing on
the formal aspects. However, there are chances that everyone may interpret a text differently.
Therefore, it is worth keeping in mind that findings or interpretation of a text may be different
from one researcher to other researcher of same textual data.
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
In the given study, qualitative content analysis is performed on the content published by top
10 PTI office bearers on microblogging site - Twitter, adopting the theories of Habermas and
his described ‘Institutional Criteria’ of the ‘Public Sphere’, i.e. a) disregard of status, b)
domain of common concern, and c) inclusivity (1989). The basis of selecting 10 most active
politicians on twitter is that the most active users provide the most relevant sample as
compared to less active social media activists.
The aim of the given research is to examine the use of twitter by the politicians in Pakistan for
two-ways communication with the general public. Since, there are 270 registered political
parties, according to election governing body - Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP 2015).
Therefore, to narrow down the scale of research and to make it more conclusive, only
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) aka Pakistan Movement of Justice is chosen for the given
research work. Reason of selecting PTI, according to Michaelsen (2012, p. 43), is that ‘PTI
led by former cricket star Imran Khan, is the most active political organisation on the
internet…’ which provides enough content sampling required for both quantitative and
qualitative analysis.
Quantitative content analysis focuses on top 10 PTI office bearers. ‘Interactivity’ of these PTI
office bearers is examined and analysed in the first part of quantitative analysis by
systematically counting and recording of statistics such as the numbers of ‘tweets’,
‘followers’ and ‘following’. In second part of quantitative analysis, ‘Engagement’ and
‘Responsiveness’ of 10 PTI office bearers is examined by counting the numbers of ‘retweets’
and ‘replies’ to the public’s comments and inquiries. Hereinafter, in-depth qualitative analysis
is conducted of the most active top 10 PTI office bearers on twitter. In qualitative analysis,
content data is examined to determine if twitter in Pakistan fulfills a criteria set by Habermas
for the public sphere and the extent to which top 10 PTI office bearers using twitter to reach
out and engage the public in political discourse.
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Finally, the outcomes of quantitative analysis and in-depth qualitative analysis are used as a
ground to conclude by answering the research questions.
Validity and Reliability
Macnamara (2005, p. 5) notes that qualitative content analysis examines the relationship
between the text and its likely audience meaning, recognizing that media texts are
Polyphemic – i.e. open to multiple different meanings to different readers – and tries to
determine the likely meaning of texts to audiences. Furthermore, to pays attention to audience,
media and contextual factors – not simply the text. Accordingly, qualitative content analysis
relies heavily on researcher ‘readings’ and interpretation of media texts. This intensive and
time-consuming focus is one of the reasons that much qualitative content analysis has
involved small samples of media content and been criticized by some researchers as
unscientific and unreliable (ibad).
In summary, quantitative content analysis can conform to the scientific method and produce
reliable findings. Qualitative content analysis is difficult and maybe impossible to do with
scientific reliability. But qualitative analysis of texts is necessary to understand their deeper
meanings and likely interpretations by audiences – surely the ultimate goal of analysing media
content (ibad). So a combination of two seems to be the ideal approach as noted by
Shoemaker and Reese (1996) that a combination of quantitative and qualitative content
analysis offers the best of both worlds and, further, that a combination of quantitative and
qualitative content analysis methodologies is necessary to fully understand the meanings and
possible impacts of media texts.
Sampling and Period
For the analysis, data from the twitter accounts of top 10 PTI office bearers is gathered dating
from 21st May 2014 to 21st May 2015. A software ‘Twitonomy’ is used to extract data of the
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
twitter profiles. The extracted data is downloaded in PDF Files which are further converted
into Excel 2013 Files for examination and analysis. Further more, SmartDraw as an
alternative to MS Office is used to draw Data Charts and Excel 2013 is used to draw Data
Tables.
Grounded Theory
In the given study, the Grounded theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967) is used to conduct the
given analysis. Grounded theory derives its theoretical underpinnings from Pragmatism and
Symbolic Interactionism. Smith (2009, p. 22) states that Glaser and Strauss’s motivation for
inventing grounded theory was an effort to bridge the philosophical gap between qualitative
and quantitative sociological researchers and to champion qualitative research as a legitimate
methodology. Explaining the grounded theory, Smith notes that theory allows data collection
and analysis to occur at the same time. The analytical codes and categories are needed to be
developed from the data in this methodology.
According to Corbin and Strauss (1990, p. 6), the data for a grounded theory can be obtained
from interviews and observations as well as such other sources as government documents,
video tapes, newspapers, letters and books - anything that may shed light on questions under
study. In the given study, data is not being collected from contemporary mentioned sources
rather it is gathered from the profiles of microbloggers. Furthermore, grounded theory has
specific procedures for data collection and analysis which are important to adopt to carry out
study although there is flexibility and latitude within limits (ibad). The procedures and canons
of grounded theory adopted for the given research:
Data collection and analysis are interrelated processes in grounded theory because the
analysis begins as soon as the first bit of data is collected (ibad, p. 7). In the given research,

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
the choice of selecting PTI for the analysis is part of data collection. An empirical analysis of
PTI is carried along with gathering data of its office bearers from twitter.
In grounded theory, work is done by conceptualizing data instead of actual data (ibad). In the
given research, data content is examined based on concepts of Habermas’s public sphere. For
instance, content analysis of twitter data is analysed to examine if twitter in Pakistan fulfills
the preconditions of the public sphere. Furthermore, concepts that pertain to the public sphere
is grounded to form categories (Corbin & Strauss, 1990, p. 9). Three categories; disregard of
status, common concern, and inclusivity, are taken for the qualitative content analysis from
the concept of Habermas’s public sphere. Moreover, both in quantitative and qualitative
analysis, constant comparisons are made (ibad) among 10 top PTI office bearers. Similarly,
patterns and variations are accounted during the analysis (ibad, p. 10). For instance, it is
accounted that all 10 PTI bearers have huge number of ‘Followers’ on twitter but they only
follow few other colleagues.
Further on, hypotheses about relationships among categories is developed and verified as
much as possible during the research process (ibad). It is hypothesis in the given research that
PTI is actively using twitter as the public sphere to engage the general public for a political
discourse. Such political discourses are needed for the development of democracy in Pakistan.
Through out the analysis at different stages, the given hypothesis is revisited and discussed.
The given research has a broader structural conditions to examine (ibad). For instance,
participation in social, economic and political discourses is taken under consideration during
the research. However, main emphasis is on political discourses for the development of
democracy.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Coding
According to Corbin and Strauss (1990, p. 12), coding is the fundamental analytic process
used by the researcher. In the grounded theory, there are three basic types of coding: open,
axial and selective.
Open Coding
Open coding as described by Corbin and Strauss is the interpretive process by which data are
broken down analytically. Its purpose is to give the analyst new insights by breaking through
standard ways of thinking about or interpreting phenomena reflected in the data. In open
coding, events, actions and interactions are compared with others for similarities and
differences (ibad). In the given study, data is open coded for the quantitative analysis. Open
coded data consists of number of ‘followers’, ‘following’, ‘tweets’, ‘retweets’ and ‘replies’
which are used to interpret the actions and interactions of PTI office bearers by comparing
their similarities and differences among each other. The open coded data is given conceptual
label (ibad). For instance, ‘Retweets’ of a politician are the indicators of his/her
‘Interactiveness’ so comparison ‘Retweets’ of 10 PTI office bearers is to determine the most
and least ‘Interactive’ politician.
Axial Coding
In axial coding, categories are related to their subcategories and the relationships tested
against data. Also further development of categories takes place and one continues to look for
indications of them (ibad). In the given research, axial coding is adopted for the qualitative
analysis. In qualitative analysis, data content is examine on basis of three categories derived
from the concept of Habermas’s preconditions for the public sphere. These three categories
are further arranged into subcategories. For instance, a category ‘domain of common concern’

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
is divided into subcategories to examine the themes, topics, agendas, messages or information
shared by the politicians.
Selective Coding
Selective coding according to Corbin and Strauss, is the process by which all categories are
unified around a ‘core’ category, and categories that need further explication are filled in with
descriptive detail. The core category represents the central phenomenon of the study.
Criticism on Ground Theory
Thomas and James (2006) put together the criticism of different critics on the Ground theory
as that it is impossible to free oneself of preconceptions in the collection and analysis of data
in the way that Glaser and Strauss say is necessary. They further point out to the formulaic
nature of grounded theory method and the lack of congruence of this with open and creative
interpretation - which ought to be the hallmark of qualitative inquiry. However, they consider
the constant comparative method of grounded theory is worth keeping.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
4 CHAPTER FOUR - MAIN CONCEPTS & THEORIES
Before the data implementation and its examination, main concepts and theories used as a
ground in the given research study are discussed and explained for the readers to easily figure
out the purpose and aim of analysis. In chapter four, Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere
is explicated followed by the conceptual dilation on ‘New Media’, ‘Public Sphere’ and
‘Democracy’.
4.1 Jurgen Habermas’s Theory of Public Sphere
Most contemporary discussions on and about the public sphere are based on the ideas of
Jurgen Habermas given in book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. The
book is immensely rich and influential having major impact on discussions of liberal
democracy, civil society, public life, and social changes in the twentieth century.. (Kellner
2015, p. 1). In the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, Habermas described the
bourgeois public sphere of the 18th and 19th century in England, France, and Germany (Sen
2012, p. 491). Furthermore, the ideas and study of Habermas about the bourgeois public
sphere indicates his affiliation with the Institute of Social Research, Frankfurt and that his
study is within context of the Institute analysis of the transition from the stage of liberal
market capitalism of the 19th century to the stage of state and monopoly organized capitalism
of the 20th century developed by the Frankfurt School (Kellner 2015, p. 1).
The term ‘Public Sphere’ is used for an area in social life where individuals can come
together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence
political action (Public Sphere, 2015). Hauser (1998, p. 86) views the public sphere as, ‘a
discursive space in which individuals and groups congregate to discuss matters of mutual
interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment.’ Fraser (1990) defines the public
sphere as ‘a theater in modern societies in which political participation in enacted through the
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
medium of talk’[2] whereas Asen (1999) find it as ‘a realm of social life in which public
opinion can be formed.’All mentioned definitions of public sphere are derived from the
Habermas’s concepts of ‘bourgeois public sphere’ so lets discuss in detail the concept of
Habermas about the public sphere.
4.1.1. Habermas’s Concept of the Public Sphere
Habermas’s concept of the ‘public sphere’ designates to the social spaces in which public
participation is enacted through the medium of dialogue. These spheres, according to
Habermas, offer neutral arenas for critical, free and rational debate among private persons
who gather to discuss and built consensus on the matters of common social and political
concerns. In other words, the public sphere mediates between the ‘Private Sphere’ and the
‘Sphere of Public Authority’ (Habermas 1989, p. 30). These public spheres make it possible
to form a realm of public opinion that oppose state power and the powerful interests of a
society. Thus, Habermas’s concept of the public sphere describes a space of institutions and
practices between the private interests of everyday life in civil society and the realm of state
power (Kellner 2015, p. 5). Hence, the public sphere mediates between the domains of the
family and the workplace -- where private interests prevail -- and the state which often exerts
arbitrary forms of power and domination (ibad). Further more, these public spheres contain
features which make them distinctive from other spheres or arenas.
Habermas describes three pre-conditions for the emergence of the new public sphere. The
discursive arenas of Europe such as literary salons, public assemblies, pubs and coffee shops,
town and village halls and other public spheres where socio-political discussion take place.
These public arenas ‘may have differ in size and compositions of their public gatherings, the
style of their proceedings, the climate of their debates, and their topical orientations’, but they

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
all fulfill the ‘institutional criteria’ which Habermas describes are the three pre-conditions to
be a public sphere (Habermas 1989, p. xi).
4.1.2. Preconditions for the Public Sphere
Dr. A. Fulya Sen, Assistant Professor, Firat University put forward the three preconditions of
emergence of any new public sphere based on the work of Habermas. According to Sen (2012,
p. 491), the first precondition refers to the disregard of status. If status is disregarded, the
influence of rank is absent and thus the better argument will uphold against the hierarchy
imposed by the society. In this way, the uniformity of ‘common humanity’ is asserted. The
idea of the public sphere became established as an objective forum independent from the
authority of rank and status. The second precondition for a public sphere to emerge is that it
needs to be a domain of common concern. Before the development of the public sphere,
authority of interpretation lay in the hands of the state and the church. These two institutions
had a monopoly of interpretation in the fields of literature, philosophy and art. The monopoly
persisted even at the time that specific spheres adhered to the rational thinking which flowed
from the development of capitalism where more information was required. During this time
philosophy and literature works as well as works of art became commercialized and were
accessible to private citizens. These items no longer remained components of the churches
and courts’ publicity of representation. Thus the private individuals, for whom these cultural
products became available, determined meaning to it by the use of rational communication
with others, verbalized at and stated the implicitness for so long they could assert its authority.
Cultural products and information thus became the common concern of private citizens and
this paved the way for other issues of common concern to the introduced as topics of
deliberation (Habermas 1989, p. 36).

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
The final precondition which Sen (2012, p. 491) drives from the work of Habermas for
existence of any new public sphere is the idea of inclusivity. The process that commercialized
cultural products and information, made it inclusive. Even at times when the public
strengthened its boundaries to exclude people, it was never able to fully close itself to
disallow participation. The public sphere has always been immersed within a more inclusive
public of private individuals.These private individuals could gain from this process. Issues
discussed, which were previously confined to the debates amongst selected groups now
became general in their significance and accessibility. Thus everybody had to be and was able
to participate. The public sphere was not necessarily founded on an institution which
constituted a stable group of discussants. It did however equate itself with being the
mouthpiece and to form the bourgeoisie representation. Even when the first public spheres
developed as special groups of people, it was ever conscious of being part of a larger part and
acting as a representative group of that larger public. The potential of it being a publicist body
was evident as it discussions did not merely remain internal but could be directed to the
outside world (Habermas 1989, p. 37).
The bourgeois public sphere fulfilled above mentioned three precondition of becoming the
public sphere. The emergence of bourgeois public sphere was supported by the capitalist
society of the 18th century which led to the separation of the private sphere and the public
sphere, but same power structures led to its decline (Habermas 1989, p. 1-26).
4.1.3. Decay of the Public Sphere
So what led to the decay of bourgeois public sphere? Habermas holds ‘refeudalization’ as a
cause of decay of public sphere which began in the late 19th century. The society forgot that
the public sphere was distinct from the official economy, it was not an arena of market
relations but rather one of discursive relations, a theatre for debating and deliberating rather

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
than for buying and selling (Fraser, 1990, p. 57). The transformation of the bourgeois public
sphere involved private interests assuming direct political functions, as powerful corporations
came to control and manipulate the media and state. On the other hand, the state began to play
a more fundamental role in the private realm and everyday life, thus eroding the difference
between state and civil society, between the public and private sphere. As the public sphere
declined, citizens became consumers, dedicating themselves more to passive consumption and
private concerns than to issues of the common good and democratic participation (Kellner
2015, p. 5).
While in the bourgeois public sphere, public opinion, on Habermas's analysis, was formed by
political debate and consensus, in the debased public sphere of welfare state capitalism, public
opinion is administered by political, economic, and media elites which manage public opinion
as part of systems management and social control. Thus, while in an earlier stage of bourgeois
development, public opinion was formed in open political debate concerning interests of
common concern that attempted to forge a consensus in regard to general interests, in the
contemporary stage of capitalism, public opinion was formed by dominant elites and thus
represented for the most part their particular private interests. No longer is rational consensus
among individuals and groups in the interests of articulation of common goods the norm.
Instead, struggle among groups to advance their own private interests characterizes the scene
of contemporary politics (ibad, p. 6).
Hence, Habermas (1989a, p. 206) describes in this transformation, "public opinion" shifts
from rational consensus emerging from debate, discussion, and reflection to the manufactured
opinion of polls or media experts. Rational debate and consensus has thus been replaced by
managed discussion and manipulation by the machinations of advertising and political
consulting agencies: ‘Publicity loses its critical function in favor of a staged display; even

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
arguments are transmuted into symbols to which again one can not respond by arguing but
only by identifying with them’ (Kellner 2015, p. 6).
For Habermas (1989a, p. 171), the function of the media have thus been transformed from
facilitating rational discourse and debate within the public sphere into shaping, constructing,
and limiting public discourse to those themes validated and approved by media corporations.
Hence, the interconnection between a sphere of public debate and individual participation has
been fractured and transmuted into that of a realm of political information and spectacle, in
which citizen-consumers ingest and absorb passively entertainment and information.
"Citizens" thus become spectators of media presentations and discourse which mold public
opinion, reducing consumer/citizens to objects of news, information, and public affairs. In
Habermas's words: "Inasmuch as the mass media today strip away the literary husks from the
kind of bourgeois self-interpretation and utilize them as marketable forms for the public
services provided in a culture of consumers, the original meaning is reversed (Kellner 2015, p.
6).
Holding the media giant corporations responsible for the transformation the public sphere,
Habermas eventually had to leave some room for the positive effects of mass media on
society. Smits (2013, p. 9) points out that ‘already in 1992, Habermas wrote an article in
which he addresses some criticisms and write that he might have underestimated ‘the positive
influence of formal schooling, especially of its expanding secondary level, on cultural
mobilization and the promotion of critical attitudes.’ According to Smits, nine years later
Habermas goes as far as to state that ‘transnational mass media can only construct this
multivocal communicative context, as is already the case in smaller countries, national
educational systems provided the basis of a common language - even if in most cases it is a
foreign language.’

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
4.1.4. Leads of New Media in Habermas’s Work
Furthermore, Habermas gave some leads on his work about the significance of new media. He
pointed out that global communication mostly takes place via electronic media and that they
‘promote the expansion of actors’ consciousness.’ Nevertheless this ‘does not lead per see to
the expansion of an intersubjectively shared world and to the discursive interweaving of
conceptions of relevance, themes, and contribution from which political public spheres arise,’
according to Habermas. Still he seems to remain uncertain about the implications of digital
communication as even though it ‘surprises all other media in scope and capacity’ and that
‘the mental consequences of the Internet [...] are still very hard to assess’ (ibad).
The conceptual discussion on New Media is made later in subsection 4.3 in the given study in
which an attempt is made to define term ‘New Media’ and its role as an ‘Alternative and
Activist Media’ is explained.
4.1.5. Critical Debate on Habermas’s Concept of the Public Sphere
Likewise any other theory, Habermas’s theory of the Public Sphere has been subjected to
intense criticism and arguments, especially after his work was translated from German into
English. The criticism and argumentation resulted in revisions in Habermas’s later writings
and led to foster intense research into the public sphere.
According to Fuchs (2013, p. 181), there have been two common critiques of Habermas’s
theory of the Public Sphere. The working-class critique stressed that Habermas focused solely
on the bourgeois movement and neglected other movements of the seventeenth, eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, such as working class movement. Eley (2002, p. 220) criticized
Habermas for same that he only looked at the liberal-capital public sphere and neglected the
plurality of society…..’ Further more, Negt and Kluge (1972) also criticized Habermas for
neglect of plebeian and proletarian public spheres. Reflecting upon the criticism, Habermas
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
realized by stating that "from the beginning a dominant bourgeois public collides with a
plebeian one" and that he "underestimated" the significance of oppositional and non-
bourgeois public spheres (Habermas, 1992, p. 430). Fuchs (2013, p. 182) however insists that
such criticism should see the acknowledgment by the Habermas in the preface of Structure
Transformation the existence of a ‘plebeian public sphere’. like in the Chartist movement or
the anarchists working class and that the ‘economically dependent masses’ would only be able
to contribute ‘to the spontaneous formation [...] of opinion [...] to the extent to which they
had attained the equivalent of the social independence of private property owners’.
Other than working class forgotten by Habermas, women were left out too. Fraser (1992) in
‘Rethinking the Public Sphere’ confronted Habermas and argued that the bourgeois public
sphere was constituted with numbers of significant exclusions. Habermas asserted on
‘disregard of status’ and ‘inclusivity’ along with ‘domain of common concern’ as
preconditions of any public sphere. However, Fraser claimed that women and lower social
strata of society were discriminated in the bourgeois public sphere. Further on that Ryan
(1992, p. 259ff) notes that not only did Habermas neglect women’s public sphere, but marks
the decline of the public sphere precisely at the moment when women were beginning to get
political power and become actors.
Thus Habermas in his early work seemed ignoring the plurality of society by only focusing on
a special group - the male, property-owner classes, and neglecting the working class and
women (Smits 2013, p. 11). Most critics stressed upon the plurality arenas in an egalitarian
society in order to be democratic and multicultural (Eley 1992 & Fraser 1992).
Fraser (1992) went on further and criticised the Habermas for not clearly defining the matters
of the ‘private sphere’ and the ‘public sphere’. She referred to the historical shift in the
general conception of domestic violence which was previously a matter of primarily private

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
corner , is now generally being accepted as a matter of common concern. Benhabib (1992, p.
89-90) notes that in Habermas' idea of the public sphere, issues that normally affect women,
e.g. reproduction, nurture and care for the young, the sick, and the elderly, are kept in the
private realm and out of the discussion in the public sphere. She argues that if the public
sphere is to be open to any discussion that affects the population, there cannot be distinctions
between "what is" and "what is not" discussed (ibad). However, Wells (2009) & Adams (2011)
claim that a distinct ideology that prescribed separate spheres for women and men emerged
during the industrial revolution.
Despite intensive criticism, the concept of the Public Sphere given by Habermas is the
foundation for major research on the field of the public sphere. For instance, Fraser
questioned and criticized the actual structure of Habermas’s theory of the Public Sphere and
made some successful attempt to arise the concerns. However, she worked from Habermas’s
basic theory of the Public Sphere because she found it to be ‘an indispensable resource’ (1990,
p. 57).
In the given study, an attempt is made to analyse if Twitter in Pakistan fulfill the ‘Institutional
Criteria’ of the public sphere by examining the interaction of the politicians with public.
4.2. Mass Media, Public Sphere & Democracy
The study of the public sphere base on the concept of participatory democracy and how public
opinion vital for political action. The basic belief in public sphere theory is that political
action is steered by the public sphere, and the only legitimate governments are those that
listen to the public sphere (Benhabib 1992). ‘Democratic governance rests on the capacity of
and opportunity for citizens to engage in enlightened debate’ (Hauser 1998, p. 83)
Before discussing the commonalities and interconnectedness between Democracy and the
Public Sphere, it is imperative to define and understand ‘Democracy’ in the given study.
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
4.2.1. Define Democracy
In the dictionary definition, democracy ‘is government by the people in which the supreme
power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a
free electoral system.’ In the phrase of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government ‘of the
people, by the people, and for the people’ (Cincotta 1998).
Researchers from Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau (ZDA) while working on the
‘Democracy Barometer’ project described three principles upon which democracy rests;
freedom, control and equality (Concept 2014).
First principle of democracy is the ‘Freedom’ that refers to the absence of heteronomy and
subordination. The freedom rights are above all rights which protect a citizen from being
infringed by the state power. Second fundamental principle of democracy is an ‘Equality’ -
particularly political equality - which means that all citizens are treated equals in the political
process, have equal rights to demand, express and influence decision-making and have equal
access to political power. And the third principle of democracy is ‘Control’ to elect their
representatives via electoral process who then legislate based on the demands and needs of
public to bound the state institutions to work for the welfare of the citizens (ibad).
4.2.2. Public Sphere & Democracy
Now lets get in depth to understand the concept of democracy on basis of mentioned three
principle of democracy. As definitions given above suggest, democracy revolves around the
people and is not just about the constitution and the legislation that determine how a
government and its departments should operate. In a democracy, government is just one
segment that coexists with other segments of society including institutions, political parties,
civil society and organisations. This coexistence of various segments of a society shows its
diversity which is known as pluralism. The organized groups and institutions in a democratic
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
society enjoy ‘Freedom’ and do not depend upon government for their existence, legitimacy,
or authority. This principle ‘Freedom’ in a democratic society synchronizes with the basic
concept of Habermas’s Public Sphere in which public (individuals, organisations, civil society,
or unions) enjoy freedom who come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems,
and influence political action through their representatives. Further on, the freedoms of speech
and assembly, a free press, and the right to freely participation in political debate and
decision-making is ensured in the public sphere (Kellner 2015, p. 5).
Further more, another similarity between the characteristics of a democratic society and the
public sphere is that the individuals, civil society, unions, and/or organisations serve a
mediating role between individuals and the complex social and governmental institutions of
which they are a part, filling roles not given to the government and offering individuals
opportunities to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a democracy (Cincotta
2014). In other words, it is the different institutions who mediate between the ‘private sphere’
and the ‘sphere of public authority’ (Habermas 1989, p. 2). Further more, these groups,
organisations and institutions represent the interests of their members in a variety of ways--by
supporting candidates for public office, debating issues, and trying to influence policy
decisions. Through such groups, individuals have an avenue for meaningful participation both
in government and in their own communities. According to Habermas, these ‘public organs’
(civil societies, unions, organisation, parliament, and/or social clubs) are essential for a
functional democracy (ibad).
Moreover, an equal representation and participation of public with no discrimination is

fundamental in both democratic society and Habermas’s public sphere. Similarly its people's
right to set agenda for political discourses, to control their representations in the state
institutions and to have their say on social, economic and welfare matters.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
4.2.3. Mass Media for the Public Sphere & Democracy
Regarding commonality between the ingredients for the democracy and the emergence of the
public sphere, media has been the most important tool for the provision of information to the
public, to development public opinion and consensus on the matter of public interests. The
radical democratic theorists recognise the media as a complex articulation of vertical,
horizontal and diagonal channels of communication which occurs between individuals, groups
as well as power structures (Sen 2012, p. 492). Further on, Curran (1991, p. 32-35) describes
the role of mass media for democracy is that it facilitate the systems of representation and
democracies by exposing the decisions made by the organisations or institutions to public
disclosure and debate. Gurevitch and Blumler (1990) write down the important democratic
functions which can be expected from media are: surveillance of sociopolitical developments,
identifying the most relevant issues, providing a platform for debate across a diverse range of
views, holding officials to account for the way they exercise power, provide incentives for
citizens to learn, choose and become involved in the political process and resist efforts of
forces outside media to subvert their independence.
However, media critics claim that mass media has become antidemocratic force due to its
growing commercialization and transnationalism (Kellner 2004, Herman & Chomsky 1988,
Alger 1998). The news have become more entertaining than informative, full of gossips,
scandals, sex and violence. Political news are more about personalities than about their
ideologies. In the absence of serious debate, voters are left with paid political propaganda
containing only meaningless slogans making them distended and cynical about politics
(Bagdikian 1983, Fallows 1996, Capella and Jamieson 1997, & Barnett 2002). Further more,
media is more after the scandals in the private lines of politicians and their families, but
ignoring much more serious consequences of their policies. They go after wounded politicians
like sharks in a feeding frenzy (Sabato 1991). Moreover, in discussion above on the public
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
sphere in subsection 4.1.5, Habermas hold mass media responsible for the decline of the
bourgeois public sphere. He argues that the rise of the mass media eventually led to a more
blurred line between the private and the public sphere. Not only did commercial interests
enter the private sphere, the private also ended up in the public sphere. Also the people were
more occupied with the reform of voting structures and ‘the enlargement of the public’, than
with the ‘publicity as such’ (Habermas 1989, p. 133).
From the discussion above about the public sphere and democracy, it is established that mass
media has a great significance in the formation of the public sphere. The public sphere
provides a platform to all citizens for rational debate on matters of common concerns. The
rational debate encourages public participation without any discrimination in forming public
opinions that is valuable for the development of democracy. However, researchers as
discussed above are in consensus that mass media has become highly commercialized and it is
not performing its due role despite its immense significance. Therefore, new media was
needed as an alternative to mass media to provide the public sphere for the public discourses.
4.3. New Media, Public Sphere & Democracy
In the current media landscape within an ever growing commercialization, and ever-
globalizing economy, the political, culture, and economy have become interconnected and
interdependent. As a consequence, more and more aspects of social life has become subject to
commercial pressures or has become commercial in and of themselves. Cammaerts &
Carpentier (2007, p. 225) suggest to consider the role of new media in mobilizing
oppositional politics to progress on a democratic political system, without conceiving much to
transcending capitalism. In the recent years, rich source of information, social engagements,
and political movements is being facilitated by new communication technologies. The advent
in the new communication and information technology gave rise to a new genre of media

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
which is known as ‘New Media’. Further more, new media offers a communication process
that is additive, interactive, and always unfinished - a form that suits the dynamic, fluid nature
of social movement politics (ibad, p. 226).
4.3.1. Define New Media
Before exploring the role of new media as the public sphere for the development of
democratic norms and process, let's first define ‘New Media’. Lievrouw, L (2011, p. 7) along
with her colleague Sonia Livingstone defined New Media as ‘information and communication
technologies and their social contexts, which include three main components:
● the material artifacts or devices that enable and extend people’s abilities to
communicate and share meaning;
● the communication activities or practices that people engage in as they develop and
use those devices; and
● the larger social arrangements and organizational forms that people create and build
around the artifacts and practices.’
It can also be defined as ‘the artifacts and practices that enable people to communicate or
share meaning in a large social organizational arrangement’ (Iqbal 2014). According to Iqbal
(2014), new media, generally, refer to ‘digital media’ that encompasses a series of platforms
including blogs, micro-blogging (Twitter), social media (Facebook), video-sharing (Youtube),
online reporting and RSS feeds. In other words, new media offers a digital mass peer-to-peer
communication forum that involves the usage of mobile devices such as cell phones, smart
phones, laptops and computers. New media, however, does not restrict to just digital ‘online’
activities but it encompasses a large array of activity offline, e.g. film making or live
streaming of any event may not be digital activity but their reliance on digital technologies
and platforms to create and distribute content to wider audience put themselves within the

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
scope of new media . Further on, Lievrouw claims that in new media era, mainstream media
including newspapers, magazines and television, traditionally held by the political and
cultural elite, can no longer monopolize and control the communication and information. The
big media corporations still exist but their dominance is no longer as assured as it was .
Furthermore, new media encourages mass engagement and creates unprecedented
opportunities for expression and interaction which allows the members of society, especially
among activists, artists, and other political and cultural groups around the world to disagree
and challenge the dominant narratives set by mainstream or culture (2011, p. 1-2). Adding on
to this, Iqbal (2014) notes that the advent of new media provides new form of public sphere in
which the provision of information, almost unlimited access to different voices and feedback
is possible as contrast to traditional mass media where the information flow is predominantly
vertical, thus limited access and discouraged participation. With the new inventions and
advancements in new media devices and platforms, access to information and exchanges of
ideas enhanced so did the political participation, civil society and democratic activism which
introduced new dimension to the social movements.
Sen (2012, p. 490) notes that due to the heighten commercialization of mass media, the flow
of information became predominantly vertical and unidirectional. Mass media neglected its
democratic communication role between the public itself, and the leaders, institutions and
organisations. Thus, the active political participation and deliberative dialogue within the
public sphere was discouraged. Therefore, emergence of an alternative media is hailed.
According to Sen (2012, p. 490), the new media have been hailed as a potential way to break
away from the vertical information flow and ‘top down’ politics where most political
decisions are made without negotiation or input from grassroots support.
4.3.2. New Media as the Public Sphere

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
McQuail (2005, p. 150-151) notes that new media provides means for the provision of
political information and in this way unlimited access to different voices and feedback
between leaders and followers are established. New media promise new forums for the
development of interest groups as well as the formation of public opinion. New media also
allow dialogue between politicians and active citizens and thus it provides an arena where
public discourse can take place and public opinion as its function can be formed.
To explain this arena for public discourse as the public sphere, the ‘Institutional Criteria’ set
forth by Habermas (1989, p. 36-37) for the emergence of any new public sphere is recalled:
Disregard of Status, Domain of Common Concern and Inclusivity.
New media according to (Sen 2012, p. 491) adhere to these three precondition for the public
sphere to some extent. People access the new media via virtual identities similar to their own.
If individuals’ socio-economic status allows it, he or she has the skills needed to access and
use the internet and when individuals have access to the necessary network infrastructure, all
people can use the internet. The internet does not only allow for private individuals to access
it. The mass communication medium is used by online journalists, web-based interest groups
and other organisations to explore and use the information available on the internet. These
groups are often ignored by mainstream media and the internet thus reinforces the idea that
new media can open up new channels of communication and instigate new forms of public
opinion (Debatim 2008, p. 65). Further more, the public sphere provided by the new media for
two way, relatively low cost, semi-decentralized and global communications, combine with
evolving interactive software and modern techniques, offer the ideal basis for radical
deliberation. A general public sphere norms are identified by Sen (2012, p. 492) as that the
communication is ideally inclusive (formally); free (non-coercive, including autonomy from
state and corporate interests); equal (communicatively); sincere (as far as this is possible),
respectful (putting oneself in the position of the other); reasoned (framing arguments in terms
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
of why particular claims ought to be accepted) and reflexive (identity re-constitution). Here
‘public’ refers to the form and not a particular content or place of communication: the public
sphere comes into existence whenever people engage in argumentation over problematized
validity claims (Dahlberg 2007, p. 49).
Moreover, Dahlberg (2007, p. 56) sees the internet as a force for radical democracy. He
claims that the internet is seen as helping marginalized groups. Such groups are associated
with discourses that are excluded from the mainstream public sphere. The marginalized
groups thus develop their own deliberative forums, link, and subsequently challenge dominant
discourses and practices. Dahlberg explains this arguments in three parts. First, the Internet
provides communication spaces for members of groups associated with marginalized
discourses to develop counter-public- ‘alternative’ discursive arenas constituted by a number
of participants engaging in debate and criticism that strengthens and develops oppositional
discourses (identities, interpretations, social imaginaries and languages) to those dominating
the mainstream public sphere. Second, the internet’s interactivity and reach assists politically
diverse and geographically dispersed counter-publics in finding shared points of identity and
forming counter-public networks and coalitions of radical discourses, leading to the
development of more powerful oppositional discourses. Identification of particularly found
through common experiences of exclusion and domination. This articulation of identity and
discourse gives strength to marginalized publics weakened by isolation. Third, the internet
supports online and offline counter-public contestation of dominant discourses, and hence the
contestation of the deliberations of the mainstream public sphere.
Taking this further, Castells (2009, p. 55) names the new media communication as the ‘mass
self-communication’ which he defines as ‘a new form of interactive communication 9...0,
characterized by the capacity of sending messages from many to many, in real time or chosen
time, and with the possibility of using point-to-point communication, narrowcasting or
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
broadcasting, since it has the ability to reach a global audience, but also self-communication,
because electronic communication networks is self-selected. Further on, he argues that in the
society we live in today, which he calls the network society, social movements have a greater
chance to enter the public sphere. By means of mass self-communication, their images and
messages can be disseminated via multiple outlets, ranging from social media to the
mainstream media. This way, social movements and insurgent politics can endorse social and
political change, even if they start from a subordinate position in institutional power, financial
resources, or symbolic legitimacy (ibad, p. 302).
Furthermore, while describing the common characteristics between the social movements and
web-based communication, Salter (2003) notes that social movements share common
characteristics with web-based communication - they lack membership forms, statutes, and
other formal means of organizing; they may have phases of visibility and phases of relative
invisibility; social movements may have significant overlaps with other movements and are
liable to rapid change in form, approach and mission. He further states that internet is a novel
technological asset for democratic communications because of its decentred, textual
communications system with content most often provided by its used. On this basis it accords
with requisite features of new social movements: non-hierarchical, open protocols open
communication and self generating information and identities and these features of identify
themselves with some of the features of Habermas’s public sphere.
4.3.3. New Media for the Development of Democracy
The public discourses on the matter of common social, political and/or welfare concerns on
the suitable public forums are essentials part of any democratic society. Public
communications are part of the process of realizing the public sphere, allowing the public to
analyze how shared democratic values and identification as democratic citizens are achieved

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
and maintained; how political civic cultures are generated -- essentially, to begin to imagine
how civil society can potentially organize democratically for politically progressive ends.
Furthermore, the democratic potential of the Internet is not dependent on its intrinsic features
but on agents who engage in reflexive and democratic activity (Cammaerts & Carpentier 2007,
p. 227).
The potential of new media in the development of democracy has been studied, analysed and
recognised long time ago. The common assumption is that the Internet, with its open access
and various channels for participation, including weblogs and online social networks, is
ultimately a force for democratization (MacKinnon, 2008). The researchers and theorists
understood and predicted the advent of an alternative media in form of ‘New Media’. For
instance, Etzioni (1972) called for ‘electronic town halls’ to provide fora for deliberation on
local policy issues long before the internet. Further more, according to Tambini (1999, p. 310),
Ben Barber identified electronic democracy - then thinking more about the interactive
potential of cable TV - as one means to achieve ‘Strong Democracy.’ Whereas, Stefano
Bonaga, university professor and local government officer in Bologna was even more
expansive:
‘all over the world a new dimension is evolving with unbridled momentum and
making a major impact on democracy and development, stretching the horizons of
citizens; this is the world of new communication and information technologies,
destined to revolutionize democracy and the economy’ (ibad).
The claims for new media and political citizenship center on the efficiency of new media,
their capacity, their interactivity, and on their freedom from time-space constraints (ibad). As
new media are interactive they institutionalize citizens’ right to reply, to select information,
and to communicate directly with one another or their representatives without the gatekeeping

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
influence of editors. Further, as civic networks argue, rather than receiving a diet of what
journalists and editors deem to be important information, citizens can seek the information
that interests them and serves their interests. New media are more efficient than old media
because by exploiting the growing availability of bandwidth they can offer faster access to
more information and immensely improved search and storage functions. Wang & Bates
(2008, p. 3) identify three factors which support the positive potential of the Internet.
First, the scale and scope of the Internet makes it possible for more people to participate in
public discussions; the ITU estimates that there are over 1.4 billion Internet users globally,
millions of domains, and hundreds of billions of websites and files available. No other
medium can offers such scale. Second, the manner of communication online is structurally
more democratic; the revitalized relations between media and the public, providing the pubic
improved access to media content, and faster feedback mechanisms. Finally, the internet
provides a direct channel for the formation and promulgation of public opinion in all of its
forms (Ibad). The rise of modern mass media, while also important for democracy, had the
side effect of emplacing a mediator on public discourse. Traditional media became the gate,
the filer, the moderator which determined the focus and terms of political discourse (Altschull
1984; Schudson 1995). Thornton (2002) claims that the internet has caused an explosion of
direct participatory democracy. He sees an increased participation of middle and lower middle
class in political process who lived away from political power centers, those who previously
had no practically direct access to political participation at the policy level, now find that they
can have a voice through the internet. Tolbert & McNeal (2003) after analyzing data of
American Presidential elections discovered that individuals with internet access and online
election news were significantly more likely to vote. Thus, the internet has the potential to
democratize a public sphere which had become increasingly media-moderator, if not
controlled (Wang & Bates 2008, p. 3).

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
From the conceptual and theoretical discussion in the Chapter 4, it is established that the
public sphere and democracy go side by side and that the new media has undoubtedly been
recognised as an alternative to traditional media to provide the public sphere for public
political discourse. The public discourses encourage engagement and participation of public
in the political process and that the public participation and its trust on the political discourse
give strength to the democracy.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
5 - CHAPTER FIVE - ANALYSIS
Quantitative content analysis and Qualitative content analysis are conducted in the given
project by adopting Grounded Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967). Grounded theory
provides a guideline to gather qualitative or quantitative data through contemporary sources
or through any source ‘that may shed light on questions under study’ and ‘also provides
procedures to process the data’ (Corbin and Strauss, 1990, p. 6). First part of the given
research is the quantitative analysis, conducted by using ‘objective, systematic and
quantitative description’ (Berelson, 1952, p. 489) of data to find answer of the sub question:
How much Twitter used for two ways communication between the politicians and the citizens?
5.1. Quantitative Content Analysis
In first stage of Quantitative Content Analysis, most popular among top 10 PTI office bearers
is determined by comparing their number of ‘Followers’ with each other because the number
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
of twitter ‘Followers’ (Macnamara & Kenning, 2011, p. 9) is an indicator of popularity.
Result in Chart 1 and Table 1 shows that Chairman PTI - Imran Khan, with 2.4 million
(approx) ‘Followers’, is the most popular among top 10 PTI office bearers on twitter.
In second stage of quantitative analysis, it is attempted to determine that how many other
twitter users are being followed by top 10 PTI office bearers?
The purpose of doing so is to examine the ‘Interactivity’ as Macnamara & Kenning (2011, p.
10) state, ‘the number of people who a user is ‘following’ is an indicator of reciprocal interest
and listening. That means the politicians who follow others do not use twitter only for one-
way communication that is to send their messages or information to other but they are
interested in information sharing (Java et al, 2007, p. 2; Golbeck, Grimes & Rogers, 2009 p.
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
17; Hughes & Palen, 2009, p. 9; Himelboim, Hansen & Bowser, 2012, p. 2), conversations
(Java et al, 2007, p. 2; Honeycutt & Herring, 2009, p.1), but also for influencing (Hanna et al,
2011, p. 266). In this regard, PTI office bearers fall down considerably with a few notable
expectations. Chart 2 and Table 2 show a considerable disparity between followers and
following for all 10 PTI politicians, with a vastly greater number of followers than people
followed. One of the most pronounced was Chairman PTI Imran Khan who is followed by 2.4
millions (approx) but he is following just 18 other Twitter users.
Finally in third stage of quantitative analysis, it is examined that if PTI office bearers use
twitter to transmit messages, election slogans, attacking opponents and political rhetorics like
an ‘old fashioned, top-down broadcasting principles’ (Gibson, Williamson and Ward, 2010, p.
3) or to send and receive messages and information, for listening, for dialogue and for
engaging with others.
and replies to others’ comments by top 10 PTI office bearers are analysed. The politicians

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
who tweet but do not retweet or reply on other twitter users’ comment, use twitter only for
one-way communication. However, if politicians tweet, retweet and reply on other users’
comments, then they use twitter for information-sharing by two-ways communication
(Hughes & Palen, 2009, p.8; Golbeck, Grimes & Rogers, 2009, p. 17). Data of tweets,
retweets and replies of top 10 PTI office bearers are gathered from 21st May 2014 to 21st
May 2015 is shown in Chart 3 and Table 3 above.
Result show the noticeable disparity between tweets, retweets and replies for most PTI office
bearers on Twitter. The number of retweets and replies to others are less as compared to
tweets which predicts that politicians mostly use twitter for transmitting their messages or
information and rarely get involve in conversation or for a dialogue with other twitter users.
Hence, quantitative content analysis is conducted with constant comparative method of

grounded theory which according to its critics is biggest plus point (Thomas & James, 2006),
it is determined that use of twitter by top 10 PTI office bearers is for two-ways
communication. However, some politicians are much more interactive, responsive and
engaging in conversation with other twitter users by retweeting their tweets and by replying to
their comments.
Qualitative Analysis:
Second part of the given research is the qualitative content analysis of data content collected
by adopting the strict procedures of grounded theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967).
Following the concept of Habermas’s pubic sphere, content data is studied to determine
twitter in Pakistan fulfills the preconditions of the public sphere. Secondly, concepts that
pertain to the Habermas’ public sphere are used to categorize data (Corbin and Strauss, 1990,
p. 9) which are as: a) Disregard of status, b) Common concern, and c) Inclusivity.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
The given analysis to explore the characteristics of sphere provided by Twitter in Pakistan
with comparison with characteristics of Habermas’s public sphere which are mentioned above.
Disregard of Status:
The people who met to take part in Habermas’s public sphere were mostly white educated,
mostly elite men. The greater population on twitter which follow the top 10 PTI office bearers
is a mix of slightly higher educated, professional and working class. However, there is still
some form of ‘digital divide’ (Norris, 2011) is apparent, be it socially, economically or
politically.
Table 4
PTI Office Bearers % of Tweets Retweeted by Others % of Tweets Favorited by Others
Imran Khan 100% 100%
Shah Qureshi 91.6% 91.6%
Fauzia Kasuri 41.5% 53.5%
J Tareen 66.2% 70.8%
Asad Umar 66.1% 92.5%
Naz Baloch 83.3% 85.2%
Shireen Mazari 82.1% 83.5%
Faisal Javed 85.1% 88.1%
Arif Alvi 55.5% 63.9%
S Mahmood 58.4% 63.4%
Further on, the property owners being wealthier and enjoying elitist status, were the driving
force of Habermas’s public sphere. This research shows that PTI top 10 office bearers

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
influence the sphere of twitter. Hence, they may set agenda, themes, or topic of discourses on
twitter for other twitter users in Pakistan. Above in Table 4 that shows tweets of PTI office
bearers retweeted and favorited by other Twitter users. According to twitonomy’s statistic
analysis, percentage of retweeted and favorited by others indicate the amount of influence by
person whose tweets are being retweeted or favorited. In Table 4, Imran Khan is the most
influential politician among PTI top 10 office bearers, followed by Shah Qureshi. Where as,
Arif Alvi and Fauzia Kasuri are least influential politicians respectively in this research.
The result of the given research shows that like Habermas’s public sphere, twitter sphere in
Pakistan has its short coming. There was a class of men who had influence on Habermas’s
public sphere and there is a class of politicians who influence the twitter sphere in Pakistan
and to some extent, controls the agenda of political discourse.
Common Concern:
Second characteristic of the public sphere that Habermas (1989) described is that the matters
of public concerns should be discussed among the people. In Habermas’s public sphere,
people used to meet to discuss culture and art, but also economics and politics (p. 31 - 34).
From this perspective, twitter does not seem to differ much. Twitter users in Pakistan
generally discuss their private and public matters. The content analysis of top 10 PTI leaders
revealed that they discuss both private and public matters on twitter. For this particular part of
analysis, only ten latest tweets each of 10 PTI office bearers are examined. Following axial
coding principle of the grounded theory for data gathering and processing procedure, content
of PTI top 10 office bearers for category ‘common concern’ is further categorized into
subcategories (Corbin and Strauss, 1990, p. 12), given in Table 5 below.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Table 5
PTI Bearers Politics Social/Art Economic Reforms Personal International

affairs
Imran Khan 4 1 3 1 2
Shah Qureshi 7 2 1
Fauzia Kasuri 2 2 5 1
J Tareen 4 1 5
Asad Umar 4 2 2 1 1
Naz Baloch 3 3 1 3
Shireen Mazari 2 1 2 4
Faisal Javed 5 2 2 1
Arif Alvi 3 1 1 4 1
S Mahmood 5 1 1 3
Table 5 shows that PTI top 10 leaders share personal and private matters on twitter. On this
twitter sphere apart from the Habermas’s public sphere. PTI politicians shared some personal
information of their ‘where about’ which is not a matter fo public concern as far as that action
has no direct or indirect impact or effect on the public interests. This sharing of personal
information contradicts with Habermas’s view who said that matters of public concern could
only be discussed in the public sphere. However, Habermas could see the changing society in
19th century as ‘not only did commercial interest enter the private sphere, the private also
ended up in the public sphere’ (1989, p. 133).

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
This research shows that PTI top 10 office bearers are using twitter for both public and private
information sharing and discourses.
Inclusivity:
Inclusivity is the third precondition or characteristic of the Habermas’s public sphere which
means that participation of all without any discrimination of age, gender, color, demography
or ethnicity. However, Fraser (1990) pointed out that Habermas’s public sphere excluded
plebeian men, women of all classes and ethnicities and that social equality was not a
necessary condition for participatory parity in public spheres. In this research, an attempt is
made to examine the age, gender, demography and profession of PTI top 10 office bearers to
determine the inclusivity in twitter sphere of Pakistan.
Table 6
PTI Bearers Age Sex Demography Profession
Imran Khan 62 Male Punjab Ex-Cricket/Philanthropist
Shah Mahmood Qureshi 58 Male Punjab Agriculturist
Fauzia Kasuri 62 Female Sind Philanthropist
Jahangir Khan Tareen 61 Male Punjab Industrialist
Asad Umar 53 Male Sind Ex- Senior Executive
Naz Baloch 32 Female Sind Economic Graduate
Shireen Mazari 45+ Female Punjab Defence Analyst
Faisal Javed Khan 35+ Male Punjab Marketer
Arif Alvi 65 Male Sind Dentist
Shafqat Mahmood 65 Male Punjab Ex-Public Servant

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Note: Information in Table 6 is taken from google search and from the PTI official website
(Insaf.pk).
This research confirms that PTI top 10 office bearers participate in twitter sphere without any
discrimination of age, sex, demography or professional background. However, there is a
pointed to be noted that all the participants are highly educated and professionals. Does that
means that less educated people might be facing discrimination? There is a scope of further
research to find answer to said question.
Summary of the qualitative content analysis is that twitter sphere in Pakistan fulfills the three
preconditions or ‘Institutional Criteria’ based on the concepts of Habermas’s public sphere. If
compare twitter sphere in Pakistan with Bourgeois public sphere, it is established in the given
research that Bourgeois public sphere fell short of fulfilling the criteria set by Habermas for
the public sphere. However, there are shorting comings in twitter sphere of Pakistan in terms
of ‘Influence’ where much like Bourgeois public sphere.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
6 - CHAPTER - Conclusion
It is concluded from the given study that without public participation in political discourse,
democracy can not develop in Pakistan. Public participation in political discourse increases
when there is a sphere for public debate on matters of common concerns. Mass media that
once was a main tool to provide information to the public became highly commercialized and
hence remained no longer a tool of public information rather became a tool of elite and
commercialized market (Habermas, 1989). The advancement of information and
communication technology gave rise to a new genre of media which emerged as an alternative
(Lievrouw 2011) to mass media for social and political activism. Similar trend is followed in
Pakistan political arena. Politicians and political activists are increasing using new media for
political engagement and discourses. In the given research an attempt is made to study the
extent of twitter being used in Pakistan as the public sphere by the Pakistan politicians for
two-ways communication with the general public. The answer to this research problem is
explore in two parts by adopting Grounded Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1967). In first part,
quantitative content analysis is conducted to examine if politicians in Pakistan are using
twitter for two-ways communication with the general public. And in second part, qualitative
content analysis is conducted to examine if twitter in Pakistan fulfills the ‘Institutional
Criteria’ of the public sphere described by Habermas (1989). For this research, a case of
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) aka Pakistan Movement for Justice is studied by examining
twitter profiles data of PTI top 10 office bearers.
This research drawn three conclusions from quantitative content analysis which are: Imran
Khan is the most popular politicians on twitter amongst PTI top 10 office bearers. PTI top 10
office bearers follow other twitter users which is an indicator of reciprocal interest and
listening to others (Macnamara & Kenning, 2011, p. 10). However, there is a huge disparity
between followers and following of PTI top 10 office bearers, with a vastly greater number of
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
followers than people followed. And that PTI top 10 office bearers use twitter mostly for one-
way communication and rarely for two ways communication.
Hereinafter, the research concluded from the qualitative analysis that twitter in Pakistan
fulfills the set ‘Institutional criteria’ of Habermas’s public sphere to large extent. This
research is conducted by considering three preconditions set by Habermas for the public
sphere. The analysis of first public sphere precondition confirmed that twitter in Pakistan
‘disregard of status’ permits anyone to join twitter sphere. However, there is an element of
influence like it was in Habermas’s public sphere. Research concluded that all PTI top 10
politicians have influence to some extent on public discourse of twitter sphere. Furthermore,
the analysis of second public sphere precondition confirmed that PTI top 10 politicians share
and discuss matters of private and public concerns in twitter sphere. Public shows its
engagement and participation by retweeting the tweets of these politicians. Finally, the
analysis of three public sphere precondition confirmed that twitter sphere does not exclude
anyone on basis of age, gender, color, ethnicity, demography or profession from taking part in
public discourse. Unlike Bourgeois public sphere of Habermas which excluded the women
and plebeians men.
Henceforth, it is concluded that twitter in Pakistan is shaping up as the public sphere for
public discourse and that politicians use twitter for two-ways communication to some extent.
The growing interaction of politicians and the general public encourages the oppositional
politics which is better for the progress of democractic political system (Cammaerts &
Carpentier, 2007, p. 225).
This research is limited to one country, one new media tools and only 10 politicians so the
conclusion of this study may not be same when other country or other new media tools or
other politicians are considered for similar sort of research. Therefore there is a scope of

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
further research on same topic from varying aspects and perspective. For instance, it is worth
examining the use of twitter by politicians belonging to party other than PTI.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
REFERENCES
1. Abbasi, N. 2013, Social Media and Politics, A New Avenue for Political Discussion.
[http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/02/10/comments/columns/social-media-and-politics-2/]
25/03/2015
2. Askari, H. 2015, Democracy in Pakistan, Centre for the Study of developing Societies, Delhi, India.
3. Adams, M. 2011, "Divisions of household labor", in Ritzer, George; Ryan, J. Michael, The concise
encyclopedia of sociology, Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 156–
57,ISBN 978-1-4051-8353-6
4. Asen, Robert (1999), "Toward a Normative Conception of Difference in Public
Deliberation",Argumentation and Advocacy 25 (Winter): 115–129
5. Alger, D. 1998, Mega-media: How Giant Corporations Dominate Mass media, Distort competition, and
Endanger Democracy. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
6. Altschull, J. 1984, Agents of Power: The Role of the News Media in Human Affairs, Longman, NY.
7. Barnett, S. 2002. "Will a Crisis in Journalism Provoke a Crisis in Democracy?" The Political Quarterly 73:
400-408.
8. Bentivegna, S. 2002, Politics and new media, in L. Lievrouw and S. Livingstone (eds), the Handbook of
New Media, Sage, Thousands Oaks, CA.
9. Bagdikian, B. H. 1983, The Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press.
10. Benhabib, S. 1992, "Models of Public Space", in Calhoun, Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge
Mass.: MIT press.
11. Boler, M. (ed), 2008, Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard times, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
12. Bucy, E. 2004, ‘Interactivity in society: Locating an elusive concept’, Information Society, vol. 20, no. 5,
pp. 373–83.
13. Binsbergen, J. 2013, Quantitative Content Analysis, New Media & Digital Culture M. A, University of
Amsterdam. Retrieved from <https://www.digitalmethods.net/MoM/QuantContentAnalysis> on 28 April
2015.
14. Berelson, B. 1952, Content analysis in communication research. New York: The Free Press.
15. Castells, M 2009, Communication Power, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
16. Cammaerts, B & Carpentier, N (eds) 2007, Reclaiming the Media: Communication Rights and Democratic
Media Roles, Intellect, Bristol, UK.
17. Capella, J. N. & Jameison, K. H..1997, Spiral of Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good. Oxford
University Press.
18. Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. 2007, Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research, (2nd ed.).
Sage, London, UK
19. Creswell, J. W. 2003, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. Second
Edition, SAGE. Thousand Oaks. USA.
20. Marshall. C. & Rossman, G. B., 1999, Designing Qualitative Research, Fourth Edition, Sage Publications,
London.
21. Cincotta, H. 1998, What is Democracy? U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information
Programs, Retrieved from <http://www.ait.org.tw/infousa/zhtw/docs/whatsdem/whatdm2.htm> on 14 April
2015.
22. Concept, 2014, Democracy Barometer at a Glance, Centre for Democracy Studies, Aarau, Retrieved from
<http://www.democracybarometer.org/concept_en.html> on 16 May 2015.
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
23. Corbin, J. & Strauss, A 1990, Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons and Evaluative Criteria,
Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 13, No. 1.
24. Curran, J. 1991, “Rethinking the Media as a Public Sphere” in Dahlgren, P. & Sparks, C. (eds.)
Communication and Citizenship: Journalism and the Public Sphere, New York: Routledge.
25. Debatim, B. 2008, “The Internet as a New Platform for Expressing Public Opinions and as a New Public
Sphere” in Donsbach, W. & Traugott, M. W. (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion Research.
London: Sage.
26. Durgan, A. and Sans, J. 2011, “ ‘No one represents us’: the 15 May movement in the Spanish state”,
International Soscialism, Issue: 132,
27. Dahlgren, P. 2010, Young Citizens and New Media: Learning for Democratic Participation, Routledge,
New York.
28. ECP 2015, Election Commission of Pakistan, [http://ecp.gov.pk/Misc/listofpp18042014.pdf] 25/03/2015
29. Eijaz, A. 2013, Impact of New Media on Dynamics of Pakistan Politics. Journal of Political Studies, Vol.
20, Issue -1, 113-130.
30. Eley, G. 2002, Politics, Culture, and the Public Sphere, East Asia Cultures Critique, Vol: 10, No: 1, pp.
2019 - 236.
31. Etzioni, A. 1972, ‘Minerva: An Electronic Town Hall’, Policy Sciences 3: 457–74.
32. Fallows, J. 1996, Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. New York:
Pantheon.
33. Farooq, U. 2014, Alternative mobilisation: PTI’s secret weapon - their social team, The Express Tribune.
Retrieved on 26 Feb 2015,
<http://tribune.com.pk/story/660080/alternate%ADmobilisation%ADptis%ADsecret%ADweapon%ADthei
r%ADsocial%ADmedia%ADteam/1/3>
34. Fraser, N 1990, “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing
Democracy”, Social Text, No. 25/26, pp. 56-80.
35. Fraser, N. 1992, Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing
Democracy. _Social Text_, 25/26: 56-80.
36. Fuchs, C. 2013, Social Media: A Critical Introduction, Sage, London.
37. Glaser, B 1978, Theoretical Sensitivity, Sociology Press, Mill Valley, CA
38. Gurevitch, M. & Blumber, J. G. 1990, "Political communication systems and democratic values." In
Democracy and the mass media, edited by Judith Lichtenberg. Cambridge University Press.
39. Golbeck, J., Grimes, J. & Rogers, A. 2009, Twitter Use by the U.S. Congress. Technical Report, College
of Information Studies, College Park, MD, University of Maryland.
40. Gibson, R. Lusoli, W. and Ward, S. 2008, ‘The Australian public and politics online: Reinforcing or
reinventing representation’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 43, March, pp. 111–31.
41. Hsieh, H. & Shannon, S. E. 2005, “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis.” Qualitative health
research
42. Hauser, Gerard (june 1998), "Vernacular Dialogue and the Rhetoricality of Public Opinion",
Communication Monographs 65 (2): 83–107 Page. 86,doi:10.1080/03637759809376439, ISSN 0363-7751.
43. Holsti, O.R. 1969, Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley.
44. Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. 1988, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.
New York: Pantheon.
45. Iqbal, N. 2014, Review: Alternative and Activist New Media, Leah A. Lievrouw, Group 4 Blog, Malmo
University. Retrieved from
<http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict142group4/2014/10/13/alternativeactivistnewmedia/> 14 May 2015
One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
46. Iqbal, N. 2014, Democracy & Development: Evolution of New Media, Group 4 Blog, Malmo University.
Retrieved from <http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict142group4/2014/09/24/evolutionofnewmedia/> on 14 May 2015
47. Jick, T. D. 1979, Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: Triangulation in Action, Administrative
Science Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 602-611.
48. Kearns, I. 2002, Code Red: Progressive Politics in the Digital Age, Institute for Public Policy Research,
London.
49. Kracauer, B Y Siegfried. 1952, “The Challenge of Qualitative Content Analysis.” The Public Opinion
Quarterly 16.4 pp: 631–642.
50. Kellner, D. 2004, The Media and Social Problems. In Handbook of Social Problems: A Comparative
International Perspective, edited by George Ritzer, 209. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
51. Kellner, D 2015, Habermas, the Public Sphere, and Democracy: A Critical Intervention, Retrieved from
<https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/2009_essays.html> [02 May 2015]
52. Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The Content Analysis Guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
53. Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
54. Kugelman, M. 2012, Social media in Pakistan: catalyst for communication, not change. NOREF Report,
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre.
55. Lievrouw, L 2011, Alternative and Activist New Media Oxford: Polity Press
56. Leighninger, M. 2011, Citizenship and governance in a wild, wired world: How should citizens and public
managers use online tools to improve democracy?. Nat Civic Rev, 100: 20–29. doi: 10.1002/ncr.200
57. Lasswell, H. D. 1948, Power and Personality, W.W. Norton & co, New York, USA.
58. Habermas, J. 1989, The Structure Transformation of the Public Sphere: An inquiry into a category of
Bourgeois Society, T. Nurger and F. Lawrence (trans.), Cambridge, MA: Mlt Press.
59. Habermas, J.1989a, Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
60. Habermas, J. 1992, "Further Reflections on the Public Sphere" in Calhoun 1992: 421461.
61. Habermas, J. 2006, Political Communication in media society: Does democracy still enjoy an epistemic
dimension? The impact of normative theory on empirical research, Communication Theory, vol. 16, no. 4,
pp. 411-26.
62. Java, A., Finin, T., Tseng, B. & Song, X. 2007, Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging. In
Proceedings of the 9th WebKDD and 1st SNA-KDD 2007 Workshop on Web Mining and Social Network
Analysis (WebKDD/SNA-KDD '07) (pp. 1–10), San Jose, CA. doi:10.1145/1348549.1348556
63. Hughes, A. L. & Palen, L. 2009, Twitter Adoption and Use in Mass Convergence and Emergency Events.
In J. Landgren & S. Jul (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International ISCRAM Conference. Gothenburg,
Sweden.
64. Himelboim, I., Hansen, D. & Bowser, A. 2012, Playing in the Same Twitter Network. Information,
Communication & Society, (May 2013), 1–24. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2012.706316
65. Hanna, R., Rohm, A. & Crittenden, V. L. 2011, We’re all connected: The power of the social media
ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54(3), 265–273. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.007
66. Leedy, P. D & Ormrod, J. E. 2005, Practical Research: Planning and Design. Pearson, Columbus, USA.
67. McQuail, D. 2005, McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, 5th ed, Sage, London.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
68. Michaelsen, M. 2012, New Media vs. Old Politics: The Internet, Social Media, and Democratisation in
Pakistan, Fesmedia Asia, Berlin
69. MacKinnon, R. 2008, Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic
70. discourse in China. Public Choice. 134: 31–46
71. Macnamara, J & Kenning, G. 2011, E-electioneering 2010: Trends in Social Media Use in Australian
Political Communication, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, No. 139, May
2011: 7-22. Retireved from:
[http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=055074358463125;res=IELLCC] on 09 May 2015.
72. Macnamara, J. 2005, Media content analysis: Its uses, benefits and Best Practice Methodology. Asia Pacific
Public Relations Journal, 6(1), 1– 34
73. Norris, P. (2001). Digital Divide. Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.74. O’Reilly, T 2005, What is web 2.0: Design Patterns and
Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, O’Reilly Blog.
74. Negt, O. & Kluge, A. 1972, Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung: Zur Organisationsanalyse von bürgerlicher und
proletarischer Öffentlichkeit (Public Sphere and Experience: Towards an Analysis of the Bourgeois and
Proletarian Public Sphere). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag.
75. Public Sphere 2015, Wikipedia.org. (2014). Retrieved May 14 2015 from
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Public+Sphere
76. Sabato, L. J. 1991, Feeding Frenzy: How Attack Journalism has Transformed American Politics. New York:
The Free Press.
77. Shoemaker, P & Reese, S. 1996, Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content,
Longman, White Plains, NY.
78. Sen, A. F. 2012, The Social Media as a Public Sphere: The Rise of Social Opposition, ICC, Istanbul,
Turkey.
79. Salter, L. 2003, Democracy, New Social Movements and the Internet: A Habermasian Analysis, in M.
McCaughey and M. D. Ayers (eds), Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, London:
Routledge, pp. 117-45.
80. Smits, T. 2013, Twitter and the European Public Sphere: Twitter as a digital salon?, University of Kent.
81. Schudson, M. 1995, The Power of News, MA: Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
82. Smith, K. 2009, A Grounded Theory Analysis of How College Students Sereach Health information of the
Internet: The case of HIV/AIDS, ProQuest LLC, USA.
83. Ryan, M. (1992). Gender and public access: woman’s politics in nineteenth-century America. In C.
Calhoun (Ed.), Habermas and the Public Sphere (pp. 259-288), Cambridge, MA: MIT press.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
84. Tambini, D. 1999, New Media and Democracy: The Civic Networking Movement, Sage, London, Vol:1(3),
pp. 305-329.
85. Thomas, G. and James, D. 2006, Reinventing grounded theory: some questions about theory, ground and
discovery, British Educational Research Journal, 32, 6, 767–795
86. 86. Thornton, A 2002, Does internet create democracy? Retrieved from
<http://www.zipworld.com.au/~athornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc>
87. Tolbert, J. C. & McNeal, S. R. 2003, Unraveling the Effects of the Internet on Political Participation?
Political Research Quarterly, 56(2), pp. 175-185.
88. Wells, C. 2009, "Separate Spheres", in Kowaleski-Wallace, Elizabeth, Encyclopedia of feminist literary
theory, London, New York: Routledge, p. 519, ISBN 978-0-415-99802-489.
89. Wang, C & Bates, B 2008, Online Public Sphere and Democracy in China, IAMCR, Stockholm.
90. Zuilhof , J. 2013, Qualitative Content Analysis, New Media & Digital Culture M. A, University of
Amsterdam. Retrieved from [https://www.digitalmethods.net/MoM/QualContentAnalysis], on 26 April
2015.

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015
Appendix
Statistic analytical reports of all 10 PTI office reports taken from twitonomy.com are given in
Appendix collectively..

One-year master
15 Credits
Spring/2015

Twitter For Political Activation in Pakistan.

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Twitter For Political Activation in Pakistan.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Twitter for Development of Democracy

Communication for Development 1

Communication for Development 2

1. CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 4

Communication for Development 3

Communication for Development 6

1.2. Research Question

Communication for Development 8

Communication for Development 11

Communication for Development 12

Communication for Development 13

Communication for Development 15

Communication for Development 16

Validity and Reliability

Sampling and Period

Communication for Development 20

Communication for Development 21

Communication for Development 22

Criticism on Ground Theory

Communication for Development 23

4.1 Jurgen Habermas’s Theory of Public Sphere

4.1.1. Habermas’s Concept of the Public Sphere

Communication for Development 25

4.1.2. Preconditions for the Public Sphere

Communication for Development 26

4.1.3. Decay of the Public Sphere

Communication for Development 27

Communication for Development 28

Communication for Development 29

4.1.5. Critical Debate on Habermas’s Concept of the Public Sphere

Communication for Development 31

4.2. Mass Media, Public Sphere & Democracy

4.2.2. Public Sphere & Democracy

Moreover, an equal representation and participation of public with no discrimination is

Communication for Development 34

4.3. New Media, Public Sphere & Democracy

Communication for Development 36

4.3.1. Define New Media

Communication for Development 37

4.3.2. New Media as the Public Sphere

Communication for Development 38

4.3.3. New Media for the Development of Democracy

Communication for Development 41

Communication for Development 42

Communication for Development 43

Communication for Development 44

5.1. Quantitative Content Analysis

Communication for Development 47

Hence, quantitative content analysis is conducted with constant comparative method of

Communication for Development 48

PTI Office Bearers % of Tweets Retweeted by Others % of Tweets Favorited by Others

Imran Khan 100% 100%

Shah Qureshi 91.6% 91.6%

Fauzia Kasuri 41.5% 53.5%

J Tareen 66.2% 70.8%

Asad Umar 66.1% 92.5%

Naz Baloch 83.3% 85.2%

Shireen Mazari 82.1% 83.5%

Faisal Javed 85.1% 88.1%

Arif Alvi 55.5% 63.9%

S Mahmood 58.4% 63.4%

Communication for Development 49

Communication for Development 50