Antipolitics as a Challenge to Political Parties

The contemporary crisis of democracy is often perceived as a crisis of representation, as there is a growing gap between citizens and political parties, a lack of trust in institutions, and citizens are disengaging from political processes. These trends can also be perceived as a consequence of antipolitical narratives. Antipolitics is understood as opposition to and/or distrust of traditional politics and as an attempt to end traditional ways of politics, usually from technocratic and populist positions and civil society. By observing different forms of antipolitics and their synergetic effects, this paper investigates challenges to political parties caused by antipolitical positions and actors. Established political parties respond to antipolitical challenges by changing their position to state and civil society and adapting their ideological position and organizational structures to be more responsive to citizens. These changes aim to bridge the gap between citizens and representatives, bring citizens back into institutional politics, and increase participation and trust.