This book tackles questions related to democracy, populism and truth,
with results that are sure to inform pressing academic and popular
debates. It is common to describe many of today’s most energizing
politicians and political movements as populist. Some are progressive
advocates of greater economic democracy or individual rights, while
others are recognizably authoritarian and anti-democratic, even while
claiming to defend democracy. What all populist leaders share in
common is a rhetorical approach: their ability to articulate, or at
least profess to channel, the wishes of ‘the people’, a group that
populist leaders claim a unique ability to understand and govern,
especially with regard to their dissatisfaction with ruling elites.
They decry corruption (although not necessarily with any sincerity),
and they sometimes identify more mainstream politicians and
bureaucrats as ‘enemies of the people.’ The rise of populist
politics raises pressing questions about the nature of populism, but
also about relationships between populism and democratic institutions.
For example, is populism ever a democratic tendency, or does its
invocation of a monolithic demos (‘the people’) signify a
fundamentally anti-democratic worldview? Populist political rhetoric
also raises concerns about the relationship between truth, democracy,
and journalistic integrity. While the history of anti-democratic
advocacy (famously illustrated by Plato) has often highlighted the
tendency of a democratic style of politics to prioritize popularity
over truth, the development of social media—and evolving norms of
journalistic communication and public political discourse—raise
these misgivings in new forms.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9783030434243
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Springer
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter