Abstract

This short essay introduces the monographic section on Anti-party parties in the crisis of the political representation. It highlights the three different dynamics that have produced the current manifold crisis of the European democracies: the crisis of the political representation; the crisis of the European socio-economic model; and the crisis of the European Union as a political project. Then, it stresses how this macro-crisis entails the rise of political movements that challenge political parties as irreplaceable instruments of democratic processes.