Politics and Entertainment

No. 60 JANUARY 2016

Is politics fun? To what extent have political themes and actors been adopted or appropriated by non-news television programmes? What are the goals and what are the consequences? How and why have party leaders become personalities with celebrity characteristics in the world of entertainment, and what are the consequences of this phenomenon? To what extent has the dependence on traditional media as a primary source of political information turned citizens into mere spectators? This essay aims to discuss these and other issues related to the increasingly intimate relationship between the spheres of politics and entertainment, with the aim of stimulating debate and critical thinking about this phenomenon that is unavoidable in democratic societies.