Joker_PoliticalSpectacle_Abstract.docx
In the age of populism, conventionalism in politics is almost over and the leading players’ political maneuvering cannot be neatly categorized into any specific political class. The impatient of the public with the status quo and a mounting desire to see change in every manner possible, has pushed politicians to adopt pre-election routines like never before. The media, which has the ability to send politics into a hyper drive through debates, discussions and dominant agenda setting, has helped politicians create a spectacle that lasts in the imaginations of the voting public. If spectacle can be understood as an outcome and the goal of the dominant mode of production – as suggested by Debord, then the capitalistic leanings of the modern day, globalized world, directs the political spectacle – arming men like Jesse Ventura, Donald Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even Ronald Reagan all of who have greater showmanship and little political acumen, with the materials that would help them reach the political heights they aim for. This paper examines this spectacle in politics, specifically using the case of these four politicians.