The transformation of the Italian party system

Abstract

This article analyses the political and social changes that occurred in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s in ways that bring economic and sociological models together in a historical perspective. It argues that the rise of the new Right following the disintegration of the Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party was the result not only of the changed international situation (which was none the less important) but of the changes that had been taking place within the Italian political parties and the growing importance of neo‐patrimonial tendencies over the previous fifteen years. Increasingly open forms of corruption (on the part of the political classes rather than the industrial bourgeoisie, even though they too were to some extent accomplices) are interpreted as a sign of the crisis and disintegration of the political system that had taken shape in the postwar period. Hence the nexus of anguish and politics for both the upper classes and the rest of Italian society that has become one of the most important features of the situation in Italy today.     

The dejuvenation of the Italian population

Abstract

In recent decades, a process of structural reduction of the weight of new generations in overall population (dejuvenation) has been observed. In Italy, this process started in the 1970s and accelerated in the 1990s. We present here its main consequences for Italian society and economy. The number of Italian young people (aged 0–29) was reduced from 24.5 million in 1951 (51.6% of the population) to 17.5 million in 2016 (28.8%). What is more, many young Italians are becoming a wasted resource and a social cost, facing high rates of unemployment, long economic dependence on the family of origin, renunciation of full achievement of their life plans, distrust of institutions, low social and political participation, and increasing emigration flow. We analyze, using multivariate models, the data of the Rapporto Giovani survey held by the Toniolo Institute in 2015. Our main finding is that generational disadvantages not only hamper economic growth but, in a familistic context, also exacerbate social inequalities.     

The crisis of the Italian state: then and now

Abstract

The article argues that Patrick McCarthy's Crisis of the Italian State was a book of great value by an author who was a partisan in the struggle to reform the Italian political system. The book's argument that lasting reform of Italian politics is only possible if middle class Italians begin to act as citizens, rather than as clients who regard the state as a source of potential largesse, has proved to be a far-sighted one, although at the time it seemed simplistic. Many of Italy's current troubles stem from the failure of Italy to go beyond the ‘overworked state’.     

Power or policy: a comparative study of the cohesion of Italian coalition governments in the First and Second Republics

In the 1990s the Italian political system witnessed momentous changes that have severely impinged upon the country's political parties and party system. What has been the resulting effect on the cohesion of Italian governing coalitions? Has the effect on the nature and workings of governing coalitions been a product of the changing motivations of political parties? This article attempts to tackle the following questions by using the general framework of several formal coalition theories complemented with an analysis of the specific features of the Italian political context.     

The election of the tenth President of the Italian Republic

Abstract

The election on the first ballot of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to the Presidency of the Republic came as a surprise. This article explores how it occurred by analysing the criteria usually employed to screen the candidates for President and the misplaced efforts by the secretary of the Partito popolare to win the office for a candidate of his party. An assessment of the powers of the President, in particular those concerning the appointment of the Prime Minister and the dissolution of parliament, is offered with reference to the experience of outgoing President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. The success of Walter Veltroni, secretary of the Leftist Democrats, and of Gianfranco Fini, leader of the National Alliance, in persuading the opposition to vote for Ciampi is related to their interest in reigniting a process for the reform of the political system and the construction of a majoritarian and bipolar democracy. President Ciampi may prove to be very helpful in this difficult task, but most of the initiative and responsibility lie with party leaders and members of parliament.     

The power of words: the changing role of the Italian head of state during the Second Republic

Many authors use the metaphor of an accordion to describe the enlargement of the constitutional functions of the Italian head of state: because of the weakness of the political parties the president is able to ‘open and play the accordion’ according to his own interpretation of his institutional powers. While useful, this metaphor does not take into account the structural changes that have occurred over the last 30 years, as well as the informal powers that recent presidents have resorted to, which were the most important factors in the metamorphosis of the presidential figure. Structural changes include the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the First Republic and the mediatisation and personalisation of politics and party structure. Informal powers include those of ‘esternazione’ (a term that roughly means ‘to render public personal statements without previous consultation with the cabinet’) and of moral suasion. By analysing the development of these two powers, this article aims to describe the changing role of the head of state during the Second Republic. It also defines a typology of presidential moral suasion, which is proposed as a useful tool to analyse presidential style and strategy in influencing law-making. The analysis of the innovative use of communicative powers by the last two presidents, Ciampi and Napolitano, shows how the transformation of the Italian presidency can probably be considered permanent.     

论意大利自由派获得统一大权的历史必然性

本通过比较马志尼、加里波第与以加富尔为首的自由派在意大利统一过程中不同的政治、经济和外交措施,及其效果来论证意大利自由派获得统一大权的历史必然性。     

意大利战争与欧洲国家体系的初步形成

1494—1559年的意大利战争是欧洲由中世纪向近代转型时期发生的最重大的历史事件,它直接导致意大利城邦国家体系的覆灭并融入正在形成中的欧洲国家体系。意大利战争的起源、过程和结果表明,战争为正在兴起的欧洲主要大国西班牙、法国、英国、奥地利等提供了竞技场,进而促成了欧洲国际关系中心由地中海向大西洋的转移,为1648年建立的欧洲国家体系——威斯特伐利亚体系——奠定了必要的基础。     

'A question of loyalty': mussolinismo and the collapse of the Italian Fascist regime in 1943

The view of a largely monolithic, 'totalitarian' regime and society in Fascist Italy (which still carries a lot of conviction with an influential group of historians) has been challenged from a number of different viewpoints. The common denominator of this sceptical approach is that, in spite of whatever ideological intentions the Fascist leadership or movement had vis-à-vis the totalitarian transformation of Italian society, the regime failed in establishing deep,enduring structures of social control and active consensus. This article focuses on the Italian regime's (abortive) attempt to substitute the traditional web of allegiances which operated in Italian society with a new, unitary sense of loyalty to Fascism. The main problem identified here is what we may call mussolinismo – the growing tendency of the system to rely on Mussolini's personal decisions and initiatives, often in contradiction to the initial spirit of Fascism or to the views of prominent Fascist figures (Bottai, Balbo, Grandi, etc.). But the article also explores the reasons behind the apparent inability of the dissidents within the Fascist hierarchy to contemplate active opposition to Mussolini – something that happened only on the eleventh hour, in July 1943. Through examining the (often critical) views of important Fascist figures about the regime's political direction (nature of the regime, Axis alliance, etc.), a more complex sense of loyalty to the Duce personally emerges – a form of loyalty that remained non-rational and essentially tautological to the notion of loyalty to Fascism itself. This explains why, in the dramatic July 1943 Grand Council meeting, the vote against Mussolini could for the first time be contemplated in the face of total Fascist collapse as an act of repudiating Fascism as a whole. L'idea di che esistesse una coesione monolitico 'totalitaria' tra regime e società nell'Italia fascista (la quale è ancora di gran lunga diffusa in un gruppo influente di storici) è stata critica da diversi punti di vista. Il comune denominatore di un tale scettico è che, rispetto a qualsiasi motivazione ideologica che la classe dirigente fascista o il movimento stesso ebbe nel tentativo di trasformare la società italiana secondo un indirizzo totalitario, il regime fallì nel costruire strutture radicate e durevoli per ottenere il controllo sulla società ed ottenerne il dovuto consenso. Questo articolo è finalizzato all'analisi del tentativo fallimentare del regime fascista di sostituire la rete tradizionale di legami culturali e sociali esistente nel Paese con un sentimento nuovo ed unitario di lealtà verso il Fascismo. L'aspetto principale che viene posto in evidenza è quello che potremmo definire come mussolinismo , ossia, la tendenza crescente da parte del regime di dipendere sulle decisioni ed iniziative personali di Mussolini, spesso in contrasto con lo spirito ideologico iniziale del Fascismo, o perfino con le concezioni politiche di altri esponenti del regime (Bottai, Balbo, Grandi). L'articolo, inoltre, esplora le ragioni, al di là di una apparente incapacità, da parte dei dissidenti all'interno della gerarchia fascista ad intraprendere una opposizione attiva ai danni di Mussolini - un'opposizione che divenne realtà solo all'ultima ora, nel luglio del 1943. Attraverso un esame (spesso critico) delle visioni e prospettive che esponenti fascisti di primo piano ebbero sulla direzione politica del regime (natura del regime, partecipazione nell'Asse, etc.), emerge un sentimento di lealtà verso il Duce di gran lunga più complesso di quello che ci si potrebbe aspettare, e della natura prevalentemente personale - in breve, una forma di lealtà che rimase non razionale ed essenzialmente tautologica alla nozione di lealtà al Fascismo stesso. Tutto questo spiega perché, durante la drammatica riunione del Gran Consiglio del Fascismo del luglio 1943, il voto contro Mussolini poteva essere concepito, nel contesto del collasso generale del regime, come un atto di ripudio totale verso il Fascismo.     

The European Union in the media coverage of the 2019 European election campaign in Italy: towards the Europeanization of the Italian public sphere

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the patterns of Europeanization of the Italian public sphere during the 2019 European Elections campaign. Europeanization is meant as a multifaceted process. The visibility and salience of the European Union (E.U.) within the public debate is realized by dynamics involving different actors, in terms of interactions, connections and contaminations between different public spheres. The aim of the article is to clarify whether and to what extent the Italian media covered the E.U. during the European Parliament (E.P.) elections campaign and more precisely to assess through which dynamics of Europeanization the E.U. entered the domestic public debate. We relied on data from a human content analysis carried out on 10 Italian media outlets during the seven weeks before election day. Our findings suggest that, compared to 2014, the visibility of E.U. and E.U. related issues is increasing within Italian media coverage. Italian media still maintain a neutral approach to the issue, resisting to Eurosceptic claims from political parties and public opinion. With regard to the Europeanization, we found that media tend to focus on the vertical dimension especially, providing visibility to domestic actors addressing the E.U. and its political actors. Elements of horizontal Europeanization, instead, are mainly referred to events from other E.U. member states, with few connections among political actors. All in all, our results confirm the idea of a growing centrality of the E.U. within national public debate combined with signals of more structured and substantial Europeanization.     

The Continuing Transformation of Italian Politics and the Contradictory Fortunes of the Lega Nord

There has been considerable academic debate about the transition in Italian politics, which began in the early 1990s and has continued ever since. The most significant recent milestone in this transition has been the May 2001 general election and this article focuses upon one important outcome of the election - the sharp electoral decline of the Northern League. The League has been one of the principal forces of change in Italian politics, so its decline needs to be fully understood. Even though its support has declined considerably, the League is part of Berlusconi's government and therefore, somewhat paradoxically, it remains a potentially important force, raising questions about the direction in which the Italian transition is heading.     

The direct election of mayors: an assessment of the institutional reform following the Italian municipal elections of 2001

On 13 May 2001, the same day as the general elections, municipal elections were held in more than 1,000 municipalities, including all the major Italian cities (Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin). Incumbents already re-elected once could not stand because of the two-term limit. This in many cases opened the way for a renewal of mayoralties. This article aims to provide a balanced assessment of the process of direct mayoral elections by using data relating to electoral behaviour, stability and mayoral recruitment inside the 103 Italian provincial capitals (the capoluoghi ) to complement an analysis of the reform of 1993. On the basis of the theoretical analysis and the empirical evidence provided, it is argued that the direct election of mayors, and more generally the neo-parliamentary system of government, represents an example of a successful institutional reform.     

Renzi: the government,the party,the future of Italian politics

On 22 February 2014 President Napolitano appointed Matteo Renzi to the office of President of the Council of Ministers (the correct title according to the Italian constitution). Since then the 39-year-old secretary of the Democratic Party has launched a series of institutional, economic, and social reforms. Claiming that it was of the utmost importance to scrap the old political class and to put Italy back to work, Renzi has already produced significant but, to say the least, controversial changes, as well as many clashes within his party and in the relationship between Italy and the European Union. This article will explore where the changes in his style of governing and in his party will lead the politics of Italy.     

Imported memories: the Italian audience and the reception of American movies about the Second World War

Memories of the Second World War played a central role in shaping the European imaginary and in founding the European political order after 1945. Nevertheless, while the Second World War was a global event, its memories have been mainly studied from a national point of view, thus underestimating the conspicuous phenomena of transmission of narratives and representations of the conflict from one country to another. This article analyzes the Italian reception of American movies about the Second World War, as a way to overcome the preponderance of a nation-centered perspective and to open up to a transnational analysis mainly based on the concepts of communication, diffusion and exportation of cultural products. After a theoretical introduction, the article analyzes an original source of great use for the study of the reception of American movies: the evaluation forms produced by the audience of an Italian cineforum about five American war movies in the 1960s. The importance of the source lies in its rarity: direct testimonies of the opinion of a non-specialist public about a movie are very rare, and thus extremely precious for a bottom-up approach to such issues.     

内蒙古科左中旗哈民忙哈新石器时代遗址2010年发掘简报

2010年5~9月,内蒙古文物考古研究所对哈民忙哈遗址进行了抢救性发掘,揭露面积1300平方米,共清理房址14座、灰坑28座、墓葬3座,出土陶器、石器、骨器、角器、蚌器等遗物350余件。该遗址文化内涵单纯,遗迹及遗物较丰富,文化特征明显,属于一种新的考古学文化遗存。     

Philhellenism in Italy: political friendship and the Italian volunteers in the Mediterranean in the nineteenth century

Italy offers a particularly important vantage point for understanding the force of philhellenism in nineteenth-century Europe. Tracing the contribution of Italians to the struggles for Greek independence from the war of 1820?-?21 to the war between Greece and Turkey in 1897, this article shows how Italian support for the philhellenist cause illustrates the internationalist context of Risorgimento nationalism. After Unification the philhellenist cause offered the opportunity to continue the tradition of volunteers enlisting to fight against tyranny and oppression abroad. This culminated in the volunteer expedition to fight with the Greeks against the Turks in 1897 led by Ricciotti Garibaldi - son of the hero of Italian Unification. But that expedition also marked the end of the nineteenth-century international volunteer movement. In Italy many socialists and nationalists were opposed to it, in part because it was seen as a diversion from political struggles that needed to be fought at home and in part because the project of the nation in arms was less and less realistic in the context of late nineteenth-century geopolitics. But at its height, the international volunteer movement - to which Italy made a major contribution - was an act of political idealism that drew on appeals to the unity of Greco-Latin civilization.     

Stalinist political spectacle and the defeat of the opposition: The Fifteenth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in 1927

The Fifteenth Party Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) took place in December 1927. It brought to an end the inner-Party struggle of the Soviet Communist Party by confirming the expulsion of Leon Trotsky, Gregorii Zinoviev and other oppositionists from Party and government posts. The Fifteenth Party Congress marked the domination of Iosif Stalin and his allies over the whole Party and the beginning of Stalinist politics which flourished in the following decades. Despite extensive scholarly interest in this crucial Party congress in the history of the early Soviet Union and the Soviet Communist Party, little has been studied on the organisational aspect of the Fifteenth Congress. This article examines the process of establishing the organisational and institutional mechanisms ahead of the Fifteenth Congress, which enabled Stalin and the Central Committee to unanimously affirm the correctness of the Party line. It also explores how Stalin attained legitimacy as the Party leader during the pre-Fifteenth Congress discussion and how it was presented at the Fifteenth Congress. Furthermore, this article demonstrates how the ‘memory’ of the Fifteenth Congress was constructed and how the Party leaders institutionalised the meaning of the Fifteenth Congress. Through these examinations, this article will shed fresh light on the Fifteenth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party and will contribute to the study of the rise of Stalinism.