The intervention of outside academic movements, such as structuralism, semiotics, and critical theory, made important contributions to a modern sense of rhetorical studies.
The linguistic turn linked different areas of study by their common concern for symbol-systems in shaping the way humans interpret the world and create meaning.
This is a change from the traditional understanding of words being labels for ideas and concepts, to the notion of language constituting social reality.
Hauser's definition of the rhetorical public sphere still shares the notion of open debate and accessibility, assuming that the participants are actively engaged in the discourse.
Modern rhetorical study, some say, should stress two-way communication based on mutual trust and understanding to improve the speaker's ability to persuade.