Introduction

The central fiction of democratic politics, and indeed a fiction, is the idea of radical political equality. Political debates in countries with formal democratic representative systems were dominated by the concern with the right to vote, and for a very long time. In principle, the fiction of democracy works in the same way as the fiction of the free market: people make their choices according to their preferences, based on their knowledge of goods and services in one cases, and of candidates in the other. Recognising tricksters for what they are is all the more difficult, especially in the midst of liminal confusion, because of their brilliant capacity for mimetic fakery. In order to achieve social acceptance tricksters must disguise their true, thankless, mercenary character; they must hide behind the mask of benevolence, and imitate or enact a person that is cheerful and easy-going. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.