Anti-politics

Anti-politics is a term used to describe opposition to, or distrust in, traditional politics. It is closely connected with anti-establishment sentiment and public disengagement from formal politics. In social science, anti-politics can indicate practices and actors that seek to remove political contestation from the public arena, leading to political apathy among citizens; when used this way the term is similar to depoliticisation. If politics is understood as encompassing all social institutions and power relations, anti-politics can mean political activity stemming from political apathy and a rejection of "politics as usual". Anti-politics tends to focus on negative assessments of politicians and political elites by civic organisations, the media and citizens, whereas political apathy may involve disaffection with other elements of a political system, such as the electoral system or party system. Since the 2000s, increasing dissatisfaction with democracy has been a theme of scholarship in both America and Europe, with some political scientists describing high levels of political antipathy as a 'crisis' which risks democratic deconsolidation. Anti-politics become a key concept in accounts of political dysfunction in liberal democracies, typically dissatisfaction with politics and mistrust of politicians. Possible causes of anti-political sentiment include the processes associated with depoliticisation, especially an increase in technocratic forms of governance, as well as citizens' perceptions of incompetent governance and the poor performance of politicians. Political distrust can originate from, and increase support for, a range of different political ideologies, including both left-wing and right-wing positions and the extremes of these. Healthy levels of mistrust in politics are often seen as legitimate scepticism and considered beneficial for democratic functioning. High distrust can increase the divide between policy-makers (politicians, or the political establishment) and citizens, which provides opportunities for populist rhetoric.