La campagna elettorale per le elezioni comunali di Venezia del 24 marzo 1946

Abstract

The paper analyses the forms of communication used and managed in the city of Venice just before the 1946 municipal election. The development started in the 70s and 80s in the sector of information has irrevocably changed the communication of politics. As a result of these changes, politics has left behind many of the traditional elements of the twentieth century. The article tries to retrace an historic pre-television moment in which the original public stage – understood as a physical space of aggregation – was not only alive but, perhaps, was at its peak. The first free elections after World War II, a symbol of struggle for freedom, were the dress rehearsal of the effectivity of the electoral democracy. For this reason the municipal elections of 1946 have had a central role in the Italian history, especially for what happened before the vote: namely the first free electoral campaign.