Fandom Democracy?

Beschreibung

This Open Access book starts with a thought-provoking question: are citizens in modern democracies becoming more like fans? With the growing fluidity of political identities and the rise of non-ideological political leaders presented as celebrities, it is worth exploring whether political allegiance and participation are increasingly shaped by forms of fandom—and what this shift means for contemporary democracies. Ultimately, the book provides an innovative perspective that deepens our understanding of the intersection between political communication and entertainment. While the phenomenon of celebrity politics has been widely examined, the perspective of followers and fans remains less thoroughly explored. In the digital media era, there is still much to uncover about how citizens engage with leaders’ celebrity strategies by adopting the role of fans. Moreover, toxic practices and forms of anti-fandom also shape the intersection of fan culture and politics. The research featured in this book adopts a mixed-methods approach, comprising a survey conducted across seven European countries (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK) and the analysis of social media content from three countries (France, Italy, and Spain) to explore the nature of fan-like practices surrounding political leaders in online spaces.    The book aims to consider whether citizens primarily function as an audience, observing political leaders’ performances and consuming information about their public and private lives, or whether they also actively contribute as content creators, particularly on social media. By analysing the activities and practices of political celebrities’ followers, as well as the emotional connections they form with their political idols, the book examines whether citizens can be regarded as genuine fans, for whom the experience of fandom influences the shaping of their political identities.

Donatella Campus is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy.
Luigi Ceccarini is Professor of Political Science at Carlo Bo University of Urbino, Italy.
Marco Mazzoni is Professor of the Sociology of Communication at the University of Perugia, Italy.

This Open Access book starts with a thought-provoking question: are citizens in modern democracies becoming more like fans? With the growing fluidity of political identities and the rise of non-ideological political leaders presented as celebrities, it is worth exploring whether political allegiance and participation are increasingly shaped by forms of fandom—and what this shift means for contemporary democracies. Ultimately, the book provides an innovative perspective that deepens our understanding of the intersection between political communication and entertainment. While the phenomenon of celebrity politics has been widely examined, the perspective of followers and fans remains less thoroughly explored. In the digital media era, there is still much to uncover about how citizens engage with leaders’ celebrity strategies by adopting the role of fans. Moreover, toxic practices and forms of anti-fandom also shape the intersection of fan culture and politics. The research featured in this book adopts a mixed-methods approach, comprising a survey conducted across seven European countries (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK) and the analysis of social media content from three countries (France, Italy, and Spain) to explore the nature of fan-like practices surrounding political leaders in online spaces.    The book aims to consider whether citizens primarily function as an audience, observing political leaders’ performances and consuming information about their public and private lives, or whether they also actively contribute as content creators, particularly on social media. By analysing the activities and practices of political celebrities’ followers, as well as the emotional connections they form with their political idols, the book examines whether citizens can be regarded as genuine fans, for whom the experience of fandom influences the shaping of their political identities.

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Donatella Campus

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Open Access Celebrity Politics Political Identity Visual Politics Political Fandom Social Media

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“This book offers a timely perspective on political engagement in contemporary democracies by exploring citizens’ involvement through fan like practices and emotional attachments. Drawing on an ambitious mixed methods and cross country research design, it shifts the focus away from political celebrities themselves and toward the citizens who follow, support, and engage with them. Its main contribution lies in deepening our understanding of alternative forms of political participation in an era of highly personalized and mediatized political communication, where active and emotionally invested forms of citizenship are becoming increasingly significant.” (Clara Juarez Miro, University of Barcelona, Spain)

“This book teaches how to study in a comparative and empirical manner the celebrity fandom. Through different approaches this is convincing look into a developing topic that may dramatically affect the future of political communication highlighting a new form of participation coherent with the structure of the digital age.” (Paolo Mancini, University of Perugia, Italy)

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