Abstract

Building on the well-known Hirschman's triad of Exit, Voice and Loyalty largely under-used in Political Science - this article aims at analysing the current Italian political system. The increasing level of political distrust and abstention in recent political elections lead to consider how many voters choose the exit- channel in contemporary democracies. Yet the rise of populist parties provides new opportunities to participate for disaffected voters, by combining new forms of direct democracy through an intensive use of digital environments with a centralised model of political organisation. The contribution focuses the attention on the emergence of such «vox populi» and underlines that it may be very different from the hirschmanian ideal.