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'Thorns in the side' of the establishment, some troublemakers manage to dominate the news and shake up the Western world like never before

Column

Does democracy need troublemakers?

Nowadays, political crises and upheavals often seem to come from the periphery rather than the centre of power. Comedians, businessmen and other outsiders – think of Edward Snowden, Slawi Trifonow (the TV star who won the Bulgarian elections recently), or Donald Trump – try to disrupt power, pretending to expose political elites.

Thorns in the side of the establishment, some troublemakers manage to dominate the news and shake up the Western world like never before.

Why is this ha...

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Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This column is an edited version of a column in De Standaard.

'Thorns in the side' of the establishment, some troublemakers manage to dominate the news and shake up the Western world like never before

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Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This column is an edited version of a column in De Standaard.

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