Populism? It is also the fault of the media. And not only social media, increasingly a vehicle for communicating violent political messages, but also traditional newspapers, which should have represented a barrier but have not always been capable of it. This was also discussed at the Trento Festival of Economics, on the occasion of the presentation of the latest book by Rony Hamaui "Excuse me prof, what is populism?", written with Andrea Boitani and published by Vita e Pensiero. The two professors discussed it with some guests, including the sociologist Alberto Martinelli, who helped illustrate the contradictions of an increasingly abused term, that of "populism", in common and journalistic language.
“Trying to give a definition – Martinelli said – populism is when the people, understood as an abstract entity, therefore not real, with a unitary will yet to be demonstrated, opposes the elite or even better the elites, in the plural. It consists in the rejection of complexity, in anti-intellectualism, in contempt for experts. Simply put, it's revolt against anyone who knows." Social networks have played a decisive role in the diffusion of populism, not limited enough by qualified information. “Social networks are not negative in themselves – said Hamaui -. The problem is how they are used and above all the fact that the traditional media, I mean newspapers in particular, should have been a counterweight and instead have become an integral part of that type of communication”.
"In conclusion social networks have found fertile ground, added Fabio Martini, political journalist -. For a very long time, information in Italy has been playing on people's victimhood, and for a long time the line between true and probable has been increasingly blurred. This is why people, all in all, believe populist messages on social media: because newspapers and TV have lost credibility in their eyes, and therefore why not believe the so-called fake news too? Not even populism, in reality, is negative in itself: it was born within democratic contexts and very often remains there, albeit with authoritarian tendencies. "Let's remember, for example – argued Rony Hamaui – that the Russian populists who in the XNUMXth century defended the peasants from a condition that in fact was still slavery, were intellectuals".
The book also examines the great contradiction of the populists, or as Martinelli prefers to define them "national-populists or sovereignists": that of not losing consensus even when they come to power. “It is singular that i parties that say they are fighting against the establishment then become establishments themselves. In theory this should make them lose credibility, but this does not happen because they continue to play all the parts in comedy: that of the majority and that of the opposition. We are seeing it with Lega and 5 Stars in this government: they fight each other ”. Therefore, there is no way out unless there is a reaction from professional information. And not before clarifying a concept: populism, or sovereignty, has nothing to do with art. 1 of the Constitution.
“The art. 1 – Martinelli explained – must be read in its entirety, and reads as follows: 'Sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it in the forms and within the limits of the Constitution'. The populists, however, leave out the final part, the one that speaks of forms and limits, sanctioned by the constitution". And that is of indirect democracy, inevitably, with the appropriate spaces left for the direct one. Another starting point provided by Hamaui and Boitani's reflection is that on the types of populism. According to the two scholars, there are three: social right, liberal, left. "The League is part of the first, somewhat also in the second, while that of the 5 Star Movement - Boitani argued - I would define as 'pure' populism, without any ideological basis and therefore not belonging to any of the three categories". This, according to the authors of the book, will lead to a faster decline of the Grillini than the League. The last European elections seem to confirm this.
