Produttori e consumatori di consenso. L'abbraccio tra democrazia e marketing come problema per la teoria politica

The existence of points in common between classical propaganda devices and the latest marketing techniques —which are usually applied to political communication—, raises serious questions about the nature of «popular» explicit and implicit consent in contemporary democracies. How does political marketing affect voting behaviour and, in general terms, democracy? What are the effects of political marketing on the behaviour of politicians? To what extent are political marketing techniques and strategies compatible with democratic legitimacy? Taking into account the extensive controversy surrounding these questions, and based on an analysis of existing literature and current political practice, this article suggests that Max Weber’s definition of consent (Einverständnis) in relation to possible correspondence between actions, expectations, and events, can help us understand the underlying assumptions of political marketing and its (real and potential) impact on contemporary representative democracy. The article argues that, if the legitimisation of democratic consensus requires the active participation of non hetero-directed citizens under conditions of «power in public» (Bobbio), then current political marketing practices tend to contradict the basic requirements for democracy and to generate an antidemocratic consent of the governed. Taking note of the partial transformation of political parties in marketing organisations focused on the leader’s image, and considering various aspects of the pervasiveness of political marketing, the author also suggests that political theory should thoroughly analyse the existing literature on the topic, in order to understand whether the marketing colonisation of political campaigning (Wring) contributes to the transformation of democracy into a new form of elective autocracy (Bovero), where voting becomes an act of faith.