ABSTRACT
Anti-politics is a clearly visible, extremely common feature of advanced democracies. Studies of anti-politics have investigated the social causes of the phenomenon in the past and today. The growing interest in these diverse forms of dissatisfaction with the workings of politics, of democracy and of its representative institutions and principal actors is understandable. The unscrupulous, political utilisation of anti-politics by politicians not only can transform democracy into a sham, that is, a “democracy without the people” but also may even go further to forge a “democracy against the people”. With this in mind, it is important to explore in detail the dynamics of contemporary anti-politics in an effort to understand who is responsible for stoking the fires of anti-politics, and why they are doing so. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
