Fandom Democracy? Celebrity Leaders and New Forms of Citizens’ Engagement

This book originates from a provocative question: Are contemporary democracies transforming into ‘fan-democracies’? As political identities become more fluid and less ideological, could political belongings and participation increasingly rest on forms of fandom? The decline in party membership and the weakening of partisan loyalties have challenged traditional pathways to the formation of political identities. This book explores fandom as an alternative way of experiencing politics: as an attachment to a political actor (a politician or a leader) and, simultaneously, as a kind of belonging to a community or group.