Lecture by Nicco Mele

The digital age has changed politics. Since the online campaign that brought Barack Obama into the White House through to social movements like Spain’s 15-M, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and Donald Trump’s victory, information and communication technologies have been shaping the way of doing politics for more than a decade. In Nicco Mele’s view, this transformation has mainly occurred in the nature of power itself. The proliferation of the Internet and new forms of connectivity that nurture the social networks—a phenomenon he calls “radical connectivity”—have drained the traditional political institutions of their power and transferred it to individuals and algorithms. This change in the hierarchies of power has also favoured the appearance of new populist-style forms of leadership which are now challenging democracy. With weakened political institutions and increasing radical connectivity, what does the future hold for politics?