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Introduction: European politics nowadays ] 25
Eastern Europe. The reasons for the slow and limited convergence, and
in some cases new divergences, are manifold. One interesting analysis is
delivered by Krastev and Holmes, who refer to the nauseating experience of
the “Imitation Imperative” in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989, which
turned into a drama in the past decade when these societies were told that
the model they had imitated was about to capsize and sink, with “no signs
today that East and West Europeans see themselves as ... a single people with
a shared identity” (Krastev and Holmes 2019, 30).°
d. Media and politics
All these political dynamics are embedded in an increasingly mediatised
world. If political parties remain the main transmitters of social interests
and value choices to political decision-makers, media is the main conveyor
of political information and the voices of politicians to citizens, and have
grown into an independent fourth estate in contemporary democracies. This
mediatisation of society and politics leads to audience democracies (Manin
1997, 218-235), with citizens as political subjects who are to be entertained
rather than involved and with spin doctors steering political processes.
The privatisation of media outlets across Europe since the 1980s feeds into
the same tendencies. The profit-oriented logic nurtures a general trend of
tabloidisation, which also pushes broadsheet newspapers and public television
and radio broadcasters to present filtered political news in flashy ways. As
a result of this, “also the quality European press has become increasingly
opinionated, partisan, and sensational” (Zielonka 2018, 41).
The same entertainment logic contributes to another dynamic, the
personalisation of politics - along with the presidentialisation of political
institutions. This shift in the public attention from substance (political
programmes) to personalities (political leaders) frames the political
competition as a “gladiatorial contest” (Bale 2013, 241), prime examples
being televised candidate debates.
Moreover, this is not limited to electoral campaigns any more, but has
become a permanent feature of national political arenas. The constant
speculation about the winner of the day and the consequent proliferation of
> Regarding specific developments in Central and Eastern European politics, recently
published works include: Ägh, Attila: Declining Democracy in East-Central Europe. The
Divide in the EU and Emerging Hard Populism. Cheltenham, Northampton MA: Edward
Elgar, 2019; Csergö, Zsuzsa, Daina S. Eglitis, and Paula M. Pickering eds.: Central and East
European Politics. Changes and Challenges. 5th ed. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2021; Fagan, Adam, and Petr Kopecky eds.: The Routledge Handbook of East European
Politics. Abingdon, New York: Routledge, 2020; White, Stephen, Paul G. Lewis, and Judy
Batt eds.: Developments in Central and East European Politics. 5th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013.