Identifying Political Fans

Chapter 3 is centred on a proposed theorisation and operationalisation of the concept of political fan. Starting on the assumption that being a fan is feeling a special affection to a leader, the chapter argues that affect should be regarded either as the precondition of any consumption and production practice or as a predisposing factor for the development of a sense of community. Along this line, we build a typology of political fans that allows to distinguish between moderate and strong fans. Then we examine how our categorisation of fans relates to practices of fandom and belonging in a fan community. This leads us to outline a picture of what it means to be a fan in terms of its impact on fans’ experiences and activities. Subsequently, a section of Chap. 3 is devoted to analyse the typical socio-demographic and political characteristics of fans. Overall, the evidence presented and discussed confirms the importance of taking political fandom seriously as data show that this phenomenon concerns, albeit with different nuances and gradations, a not insignificant segment of the population.