Abstract

It is certainly correct to study the Berlusconi case from the point of view of the popularization of politics, but to restrict the analysis to this reading alone may be reductive. Apparent in Berlusconi's political adventure, in fact, are the signs of a broader and more general process of social change which radically alters society's forms of political participation and symbolic production. The analysis conducted in the article starts from Bernard Manin's hypotheses concerning the «audience democracy», which it connects with the processes of personalization that affect diverse domains of social action. These processes are embodied in the so-called «commodification of politics» and «lifestyle politics», and they appear particularly evident in Italy because of specific forms of cultural consumption and features consolidated in the national identity.