BEPPE GRILLO

Politics vs. Antipolitics in Italy

In the backdrop of John Keane’s monitory democracy framework, this article focuses on Italy and on an Italian Blogger, Beppe Grillo, and his namesake blog Beppegrillo.it. Italy’s representative democratic system has in the recent past shown many of those signs of the decline that Keane indicates as the foundation of a monitory democracy. Beppegrillo.it instead is a particular example of an Internet-based monitory body. The analysis of the blog’s growing impact on Italian politics can allow us to assess Keane’s claim that we are living in the era of monitory democracy; while, on the other hand, the analysis of the blog allows us to highlight the importance and the challenges that web-enhanced forms of political engagement pose to democracy.