We are used to thinking that the anti-politics of which Beppe Grillo's movement is an expression is the result of the crisis of the parties and of the incapacity that they demonstrate in starting the necessary reform processes. It is true, but only in part, because the characterizing element of this movement must be sought above all in the possibilities linked to information technologies and their application to communication processes.
Of course, this intertwining of political communication and new technologies has a long and worthy history behind it which was born with the diffusion of printed paper, was consolidated first with the radio, then with television and today with the web. However, there are several consequences on the political system that is affected from time to time by this type of innovation.
The use of the net allows, for example, a light but capillary political participation, which it would be unthinkable to be able to achieve through the press and that even television is not always able to ensure. By launching the captivating message of transparency and permanent consultation, the network effectively replaces the disinterest in politics understood as a "struggle for power" and transforms controversial issues into choices that impose more familiar alternatives, such as yes / no, I like / I don't like. In this way the blog proves to be the preferred channel, for the knowledge and for the wealth of information that can be poured onto the "navigator" through the same self. In turn, the network feeds and supports the participation of those who go in search of new certainties, within the babel of voices and opinions that participate in the discussions.
With the League in crisis, today Grillo has become the sole leader, for example who, revealing to all the magicians of the political class, proposes himself as the "spokesperson" of a public opinion above all of the youth, which otherwise would be absent and would swell the already robust ranks of electoral abstention. In doing so, the "grillismo" does not seek to replace Bossi's leghismo, but if anything supports it by favoring a generational target, where in the past the Lega has rooted itself above all on a territorial basis. From this awareness derive the first statements that Grillo entrusted to his blog the day after the local elections. The party system has gone from "regeneration" to "liquefaction" and now "there is nothing left", there is no right, no pdl or even the centre. However, there is still no talk of the League and the Democratic Party.
Such caution is not surprising and indeed it is understandable. After the historic conquest of the first "5-star" mayor in Serego, in the province of Vicenza, it is conceivable that enrollments will also increase because you just need to click to join the movement where "everyone counts as one!", as stated on the site. However, to manage this success politically, Grillo will not be able to continue to address his people by resorting only to phrases of circumstance. “Big, big, big,” the leader says on youtube today. But what will happen in the next general elections? Will the 5-star movement perhaps transform itself from an association into a party and perhaps be divided, as often happens in these cases, between purists and opportunists? It is too early to tell, even if a prediction can certainly be made right now: we will see some good ones because, like it or not, Grillo's choices will be decisive for the redefinition of our, at the moment too fragile, party system.
