«You are the élite». Donald Trump e la democrazia americana

The ferocious attack that Donald Trump routinely makes on the elite has appeared as an unprecedented attitude in American political debate. But it represents only the last chapter of a history that dates its origins even to the end of the eighteenth century. Indeed, criticism of those at the top of political power is a constant (also) in the US political system. However, this attitude by the New York tycoon is not simply a déjà-vu but tends to undermine a fundamental assumption of Western democracy, that of representation, based on the «principle of distinction» between elected and electors. The objective of the essay is therefore to argue this hypothesis with reference to the transformations it could imprint on the liberal democracy.