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

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.