What ‘Hyperpolitics’ Explains About This Era
About this episode
Jäger's theory of 'hyperpolitics' holds that everything feels intensely political while democratic institutions grow weaker — a combination of hyper-politicization and de-institutionalization. He periodizes modern politics: twentieth-century mass politics was politicized and institutionalized; the 1990s–2000s brought postpolitics; after 2008, anti-politics; now hyperpolitics, where viral outrage coexists with hollowed-out unions, parties, and civic organizations. Social media's attention economy and the decline of intermediaries help explain the timing, though Jäger resists reducing politics to platforms. Trump appears as a 'human engagement algorithm' — volatile, short-termist, thriving on attention — and MAGA as a hyperpolitical movement. They contrast this with China's state capacity and the EU's vetocracy, debate whether politics can be switched off in private life, and close with the claim that politics matters instrumentally: its value lies in the outcomes it produces, not the frenzy it generates.