The Italian political system after the 9 – 10 April 2006 elections

Abstract

All recent Italian elections have produced important electoral consequences. In this brief introduction, the author highlights some of the problems, difficulties and perspectives for the Italian political system following the electoral victory of the centre-left. More precisely, he suggests that there are two complex issues in need of being analyzed and politically tackled: the revisions to be introduced into the Italian Constitution and the transformation of some Italian parties and the reorganization of the party system. In conclusion, at least in this phase, the Italian political system is bound to remain in a situation that can still be defined as an ongoing political and institutional transition.     

A Christian democratization of politics? The new influence of Catholicism on Italian politics since the demise of the Democrazia Cristiana

A paradox exists in relation to contemporary European Christian democracy. Its ideological influence has increased as Christian democratic parties have declined. This is particularly evident in Italy since the demise of the Democrazia Cristiana (DC). By investigating the ideological development of Italian parties and some key policy reforms that they introduced after the fall of the DC, this article explains this ‘Christian democratization of politics’, a process by which Catholic ideals and symbols acquire a decisive impact on the Italian party system. Three types of Christian democratization are individuated and analyzed: the gradual replacement of liberal values with Catholic political ideas in the positions taken by liberal-oriented parties; the novel synthesis between social Catholicism and social democracy by moderate left-wing coalitions; and the Lega Nord’s use of Catholic values to stress populist positions and identity issues.     

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.     

Gulliver unbound. Possible electoral reforms and the 2008 Italian election: Towards an end to ‘fragmented bipolarity’?

This article considers the systemic effects of the electoral reform approved by the centre-right in December 2005, and the factors that led to the crisis of the Prodi government, highlighting the way in which the issue of electoral reform and the likelihood of an electoral referendum contributed decisively to the breakdown of the fragile coalition maintaining the Prodi government in office. The article then analyses the ‘game’ surrounding possible electoral reforms, examining the interweaving of the preferences and vetoes of the various political actors, showing how these were influenced by the strategic aims of each actor and by the process of re-structuring of the party system. Finally, the new configuration of the political supply as it took shape in the run up to the 2008 general election is analysed, showing how this new format derives from the actors’ strategic adaptation to the electoral rules in force, and how the election may signal the end of a period of Italian politics marked by ‘fragmented bipolarity’.     

从三个维度解读党依法执政的深层意蕴

依法执政的科学命题,要求我们必须深刻把握其科学内涵和深层意蕴。理解党依法执政的深层意蕴需从三个维度入手,它具体表现为执政理念的新境界、执政能力的新提升和执政方式的新跨越三个层面。     

独具特色的日本政党政治

日本的政党政治是在二战以后形成的,因而它与西方政党政治相比有很大的不同：第一,自民党能够在完全竞争的多党制条件下,以优势地位执政长达38年之久。第二,政党内部派阀林立且活动持久。第三,自民党直接参与政府运作,成为政府运作的中枢神经。第四,日本的政党政治具有明显的不成熟性,国会和在野党功能弱化,各政党没有明确的政策主张。     

关于吸收和借鉴其它执政党执政能力建设有益经验的几个问题

加强党的执政能力建设,必须以与时俱进的时代精神把我们党置于世界政党的参照系中加以比较和审视,积极借鉴国外其它政党执政和治国的有益经验。本文就如何吸收和借鉴其它政党执政能力建设有益经验问题,从提出问题的依据、借鉴方法、借鉴内容以及吸收和借鉴应坚持的原则等方面进行了相应探讨。     

营造党内民主讨论环境问题探析

营造党内民主讨论环境对于发展党内民主,实现党的团结和统一,对于科学决策、民主决策、依法决策具有重要意义。但是,当前党内仍然存在着影响党内民主讨论环境的诸多因素。对这些因素进行分析并探求营造党内民主讨论环境的对策是推进党内民主的重要环节。     

Party organisational change in Italy (1991–2006)

This article analyses, adopting the well-known approach of Katz and Mair, the issue of organizational change within Italian political parties since 1990. In addition to an account of trends in membership, local units, finances, staff, and of changes in party statutes, the article aims at testing the widespread view in the literature that organizational resources–hence power–are becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of party and/or parliamentary leaders, and correspondingly that the territorial presence of parties is declining. The analysis of the change over time of Katz and Mair's party organisational ‘faces’ leads to the confirmation, to a large extent, of the overall hypothesis of a decline of the party at ground level, and a concentration of party resources in the central office, and above all in the party in public office.     

党内民主视野下党员意见表达刍议

发展党内民主要以党员为本。以党员为本必须尊重党员主体地位,而尊重党员主体地位需要提高党员的民主意识,保障党员的参与权,这一切都有赖于党员的意见表达。党员意见表达是发展党内民主的一种内在生成力,是发展党内民主的天然成分,它有利于提高党员对党内民主的参与度,有利于营造党内民主的环境。     

The Partito Democratico after the 2013 elections: all change?

This article analyzes the changes that occurred within the Partito Democratico (PD, Democratic Party) from the fiasco of the general election in February 2013 until the European elections in May 2014, focusing in particular on the extent to which the presence of a new, distinctive type of leadership has contributed to such transformations. The first section describes the most relevant events affecting the party in the period considered, such as the failure to gain a parliamentary majority, the problematic re-election of Giorgio Napolitano as President of the Italian Republic, the transition from Pier Luigi Bersani to Matteo Renzi as party leader, and the transition from Enrico Letta to Renzi as Prime Minister. The following sections deal with questions of renewal in the party's organization, with an emphasis on the key role played by Matteo Renzi as the new leader. To achieve its goal and explain how the PD has changed in recent months, the article resorts to the well-known framework of the three party faces proposed by Katz and Mair.     

执政党建设与中国政党制度的民主价值

当代中国正处于剧烈的社会转型期,多元利益诉求引发的政治参与膨胀,对政党制度民主价值的进一步挖掘和发挥提出了更高的要求。执政党党内民主的发展,直接影响到社会民主以及整个国家民主政治发展的进程,而加强执政党的建设则是充分发挥中国政党制度民主价值的关键路径。     

The 2006 election: more than ever,a Berlusconi-centred campaign

Abstract

The article offers a review of the most salient events of the 2006 electoral campaigns. It argues that with exception of 1994, the recent 2006 electoral campaign has been more focused on Berlusconi than the previous campaigns. As a matter of fact, Berlusconi, trailing in the polls, made all possible efforts to set the campaign agenda. He resorted to a massive overexposure of himself on the television stage and gave rise to a number of ‘media events’ that have dominated the electoral narratives, like the Vicenza speech at the Confindustria conventions and his final announcement of abolishing the municipal tax on homeowners. All that was not enough to gain re-election, but his frantic campaign activity allowed him to re-acquire a clear leadership of the House of Liberties, which had been previously challenged by his own coalition partners. The article analyses also the Berlusconi – Prodi debates, and the reasons why electoral debates promise to become a fixed feature of the Italian politics.     

The institutional odyssey of the Italian Parliamentary Republic

This article examines the Italian foreign policy of the second Berlusconi government. The first section focuses on the episodes that critics have used to argue that, under the second Berlusconi government, there has occurred a process of ‘Americanization’ of Italian foreign policy, and provides an interpretation of their significance. The second section looks at these episodes against the historical background of Italian?–?American relations since the end of World War II and argues that, from this perspective, very little, if anything, has changed in Italian?–?American relations or Italian foreign policy in general.     

暗潮汹涌的“大汉贵州军政府”

武昌起义后贵州各界仓促应变,携手组成大汉贵州军政府。新政府中的各实力派因宗旨不同。渊源各异,而各行其是,由此导致军政府的最终解体。本文围绕组成大汉贵州军政府的自治学社、宪政预备会、新军三大力量之间的政治互动,重新审视这一问题,以期进一步梳理大汉贵州军政府的兴衰历程。     

Owner parties and party institutionalisation in Italy: is the Northern League exceptional?

Studies on party institutionalisation commonly argue that parties with personalist leadership and weak organisation are unlikely to remain in power beyond leadership succession. In other words, these parties will rarely attain their own institutionalisation. From this perspective, the recent Italian political reality represents a conundrum. Three parties of this type – Northern League; Forza Italia; Italy of Values – confronted significant resignation issues concerning their leaders, but only the League, contrary to the theory, made a decisive step toward institutionalisation by removing its founding father and remaining an actor with national blackmail potential. This article addresses this challenge and provides a solution to this conundrum. In particular, the article demonstrates that an approach that considers both party factors and critical events is necessary to account fully for the variance of outcomes and, more generally, for party change.     

An empirical study on the modification of China's current urban social security system

This study challenges the conventional correlation between economic performance and the level of the development of social security systems. By focusing on China's urban areas, we provide an overview of the components and benefits, from a comparative perspective, of China's current social security system. We also create a comprehensive and generally applicable method using factors such as economics and population, among others, as standards to evaluate the efficacy of China's system. In order to demonstrate our primary hypothesis – that the Chinese Communist Party government has to modify its social security system to adapt to or bring about changes in the basis of its legitimacy – we analyse Chinese social security records and other related data after 1949 by statistical methods. The formula we provide in this study can be used to forecast China's expenditure on its urban social security system, and other scholars can apply our methods to countries in which conditions are broadly similar.