La rappresentanza politica e degli interessi fra dis-intermediazione e re-intermediazione : un primo bilancio

The impact of the digital revolution on democratic and interests representation systems was so significant to produce long-term consequences on our understanding and functioning of democratic institutions. On one hand, in the political system, personalization, leaderization and revival of so-called “direct democracy” suggest new ways to renew the fundamental promise of the democracy. On the other hand, in the interests representation system, the crisis of the interest groups and the overcoming of concertation as a method for the definition of shared public policies produces a progressive weakening of the traditional intermediation ways between social, political and institutional actors. But leaderization, disintermediation and “direct democracy” also seem to promote new forms of mediation (or re-intermediation). An evolutionary scenario is therefore emerging, in which political innovation in participation and representation processes coexists with dangerous pitfalls for our democracy polity. And we will try to take stock of this.