Political Communication in the Age of Populism and Mediatization

Abstract

The loss of mainstream political parties’ credibility, the mistrust over the traditional sources of information, the rise of social media in the public scenario, and the ideological polarization splitting states into different sides seem to be the most recent personality of our democracy. Through this study, we will understand to what extent populist rhetoric affects our decisions in both the civic and personal sphere. Are we owners of our mindset, or are we just victims of the filter bubble? After investigating the basic concepts of political communication and explaining the factors of populism and mediatization that we are experiencing today, we must go further to study whether this ideological fragmentation of states should concern us, and more importantly, whether it is going to increase in Spain. For this, a very important factor is the youth, since are the new generations on whom the future of politics and ideological bias depend.