Advanced democracies prize and demand good and strong leadership among their politicians. In a situation of perceived absence of leadership, anger and even revolt against present political elites may become popular fashion; political outsiders may seek to exploit disaffections as a political strategy to defeat established candidates. Today, this trend is ascendant in much of the Western world. In a “post-truth era” of politics, weakness of current leaderships or a situation in which “blatant lies” are “routine across society,” such that “politicians can lie without condemnation,” the resurgence of populism as a political strategy presents grave challenges for democracy. We argue that while new technologies may help us bridge the gap between voters and political elites, elites fail to use …