Ricerc@Sapienza

This chapter deals with the relationships between the depoliticization and repoliticisation dynamics concerning public actions and the framing of the collective issues and the most important phenomenon of change affecting contemporary politics and political systems, populism. Contemporary populisms can be interpreted as a consequence of the depoliticisation processes triggered by the advent of post-democracy and neoliberalism, as well as of the connected processes of globalization and Europeanization of public policies. Later, the global economic and financial crisis and the austerity-driven policies added new strength to the populist reactions. Analyzing the Italian case the authors try to understand whether the agendas and policies carried out by populists leading governments or heavily influencing policy making induce forms of re-politicization of both public actions and the related issues. The chapter provides evidence on the potential effects of re-politicization caused by populism.