Chapter 4. Disenchantment with politics and the salience of images

Iconic images are often used to reduce complex political questions into simple divisions which ultimately exclude alternative voices and preserve hegemonic ideology. This chapter discusses fundamental questions concerning the role of images in public’s view of politics and, in particular, three tendencies associated to the current visual turn: the fictionalisation of politics, the politicisation of fiction; and to glocalisation of hegemonic political values. The focus is here on the use of images and TV soaps in the discursive construction of political events. The main argument is that visual representations of the political such as The West Wing or similar are reinforce public’s disenchantment for politics and politicians, fostering depoliticisation and ultimately the ‘democratic deficit’ in Western politics.