ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the terminological, conceptual and methodological aspects of the anti-politics phenomenon. The first section offers an overview of the ways that the term “anti-politics” is used in the dictionaries of the principal European languages and portrays the circulation of said uses over the course of time. It then examines the corresponding literature in order to identify the principal meanings assigned to the term in the social sciences field. The analysis shows that the term “anti-politics” suffers from problems both of homonymy (one term having many meanings) and of synonymy (many terms having the same meaning). In order to overcome this terminological confusion, Sartori's recommendations regarding the analysis of concepts are followed. Thus, a central core of the concept of anti-politics is identified and is distinguished from other associated terms such as populism and anti-partyism. The analysis concludes with the formulation of several possible indicators of anti-politics relating to three units of analysis: the citizen/voter; the political class and political leaders; and the political system as a whole.
