Post-Truth, Polarization and Other Emotional Threats to Democracy

Abstract

Why do emotions shape the arena of contemporary politics? Are post-truth and polarization the most powerful tools of the populist approach to politics? Do they pose a challenge to liberal democracy? How can we bring back rationality in public deliberation and political discourse? In this short paper I will try to answer these questions focusing on the role of emotions in contemporary democracies and the connections between post-truth, polarization and populism, while assessing a provisional proposal hopefully useful in building a working paradigm to bind politics to a more rational and prospective approach.