From the parties's democracy to the audience's referendum

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the main transformations and trends of contemporary democracies. The accomplished changes have taken similar forms in the majority of existing democracies. The most recurrent phenomena arising from them were the decline of organizational and programmatic parties, especially in thecase of Europe, and as a consequence, the emergence of "soft parties", which resulted, as general trend, and the belief in the loss of quality of policy representative. Emerges from this setting, the public democracy traversed everywhere by plebiscitarianism. The importance acquired by the mainstream media and its monopolistic control enhances the plebiscitary dimension of the audience's democracy. The most undemocratic effect of it lies in the fact that electors lose their ability to form critical judgments, because they are transformed in spectators - that more look on than act - which makes the politics much more vulnerable to secrecy and opacity, and democracy less democratic.