Abstract

The concept of «Regression» has been recently put at the center of the social sciences debate on democracy and populism. Analyzing the connection between regression and populism, the article aims at considering the main aspects of the critique addressed to the economic, political and scientific elites by populism. It shows also the consequences of populism for the configuration of the «public space». In the final part, the article stresses how different models of democracy are emerging within the crisis of contemporary democracies. In particular, the analysis explores the so called «illiberal democracy», that is challenging the liberal democratic framework of politics.