This essay reassesses Walter Benjamin's thesis of the aesthetisation of politics with reference to the development of the mass media and the crisis of democracy. His thesis of the aesthetisation of politics represents the focal point of his account of both the crisis of liberal democracy and the emergence of fascism. The examination of Benjamin's analysis of the interplay between fascist politics and the mass media leads to a wider critical consideration of the function of political spectacle in the media age. In so doing, I seek to draw out its relevance for our critical understanding of the linkage between new media and democracy, be it "new" or "old" democracy.
Walter Benjamin; aesthetic politics; mass media; democracy