In democratic politics, the tension between executive leadership, entrenched bureaucracy, and a vigilant press is as old as the modern state. Every administration faces the challenge of overcoming inertia, selling policy to skeptical publics, and wrestling with the “hidden government” of career officials. Yet, what distinguishes our current moment is not simply the existence of these tensions, but the way they are performed — publicly, strangely, and often with an air of theatre verging on parody.
The “Deep State” as Enemy
Executives historically fought entrenched bureaucracies quietly; today, it is recast as a villain in plain sight, a character in the political spectacle.
Cancel Culture in Governance
Instead of careful policy debate, reputations are destroyed and legitimacy withdrawn by moral panic and viral denunciation.
Administrative Chaos as Strategy
The absurdity is amplified when chaos itself becomes a tool: unpredictability and contradiction confuse oversight and immobilise critique.
Blurring of Entertainment and Authority
Bizarre politics thrives on its performance value: the executive and opposition both adopt spectacle as the currency of influence.
Planned or Emergent?
Some elements of the bizarre appear deliberately orchestrated, others emerge accidentally from the chaotic media ecosystem. Either way, the effect is the same: confusion, destabilisation, and disengagement.
The Absurd as Political Strategy
Politics now mirrors absurdist theatre: repetition, contradiction, and non-sequitur become governing techniques as much as rhetorical flaws.
The bizarre in modern politics is not an accident. It is the product of a system where governance, media, and performance collapse into each other. The citizen is left, like the audience of an absurdist play, uncertain whether to laugh, cry, or walk out — but always aware that they are watching theatre.
This essay belongs to the Society section of Ingenue.
