When Entertainment and Politics Collide.

As described by Liesbet van Zoonen, real world attempts in political reality television have failed to succeed. It is speculated that this is may be due to a "lack in the spectacle and excitement" that makes other participatory television (such as international versions of Big Brother and Pop Idol) popular amongst the masses (van Zoonen 40). The government of Idiocracy has is certainly not suffering from insufficient exhibitionism. The courts have come to resemble a Judge Judy-esque nightmare, with a spotlight on the judge and a grand entrance for the lawyers complete with an introduction and applause from the spectators. The spectators more closely resemble an audience for The Gong Show than the attendants of an orderly courtroom. The presidential address to the "House of Representin'" has the theatrics of a WWE event mixed with a rock concert and "rehabilitation" takes the form of a monster truck-to-the-death rally.
In the world of Idiocracy, one has no trouble finding "audiences, but no publics" (Dayan qtd. in van Zoonen 42). Mike Judge has imagined a world where the spheres of entertainment and politics have collided, and it is not pretty sight. Clearly Judge aligns himself with the viewpoint that "apocalyptic vision of the many harmful roles of television in politics" produced by critics of participatory television. In the scenes mentioned above, it is easy to see how "emotional, intuitive, social or aesthetic reactions" have prevailed over the "rational, informed or political" reactions that are sought after by optimists like van Zoonen (van Zoonen 42).
When van Zoonen "Imagin[ed] a Fan Democracy," there is no doubt that the government of Idiocracy was not the outcome she was hoping for. Van Zoonen's hope to "advance the understanding of a role of entertainment and fandom in politics; not as detrimental to democracy but as a necessary and useful in contemporary culture" certainly are not supported by Judge and Idiocracy. Will the government of Idiocracy will be the future should politics and entertainment continue to become intwined? Doubtful, but it is clearly a representation of the fear that the masses will become "mindless followers of heroes" and not "responsible political participants" (van Zoonen 47).

… and I don't know about you, but I'd probably watch a season of Big Brother featuring politicians.