Pubblicato 2023-06-09
Parole chiave
- Italy,
- General Election,
- Party Politics,
- Party Competition,
- Election Results
- Representation,
- Government,
- Change,
- Continuity,
- Volatility,
- Fragmentation,
- Populism ...Più
Come citare
Copyright (c) 2023 Arianna Giovannini, Marco Valbruzzi, Davide Vampa
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
TQuesto lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale.
Abstract
This introduction to the special issue places the 2022 Italian general election within the recent electoral history of Italy and the broader European context. Following the same multidimensional structure adopted for this collection of articles, here we address general questions regarding the significance of the last election, its dynamics, and implications. Firstly, to what extent did it represent a change compared to previous Italian elections? Secondly, can Italy still be regarded as an anomaly in the European context? Have the 2022 results widened or narrowed the political gap between the country and its neighbours? By providing a longitudinal and cross-sectional overview, our aim is to suggest some interpretative keys, which, in conjunction with the rich data presented and discussed by the authors of each article, may enable readers to draw general lessons about recent developments in Italian and European politics. Our overall argument is that, while clearly significant in its political implications – producing the most ideologically right-wing government in republican history led by the first female prime minister –, the 2022 general election did not represent a radical change from previous Italian elections. Instead, it marked a further step in the emergence of a ‘new political normal’ characterised by volatility, fragmentation, mainstreaming of populist ideas and actors, polarisation and the reframing of socio-economic and socio-cultural cleavages. Additionally, while Italy can be regarded as the most advanced manifestation of these transformations, we observe similar shifts in most Western European countries, indicating that their seemingly unshakable stability is now in question.
Riferimenti bibliografici
- Albertazzi, D. and D. Bonansinga (2023). Beyond Anger: the Populist Radical Right on TikTok. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2022.2163380
- Albertazzi, D. and D. Vampa (Eds.) (2021). Populism and New Patterns of Political Competition in Western Europe. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
- Aylott, N. and N. Bolin (2023). A New Right: the Swedish Parliamentary Election of September 2022. West European Politics, 46(5), 1049-1062.
- Bartels, L. M. (2023). Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens and the Challenge of Populism in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Bergman M. E. and G. Passarelli (2023). Party and Leadership Effects on Referendum Voting: The Italian 2020 Constitutional Referendum. Representation. DOI: 10.1080/00344893.2023.2210149
- Bordignon, F., Ceccarini, L. and J. L. Newell (2023). Italian voters: where they have come and where they are going. In F. Bordignon, L., Ceccarini and J.L. Newell (Eds.) (2023, forthcoming) The Italian General Election of 2022. The Right Strikes Back. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Chiaramonte, A. and R. D’Alimonte (2018). The New Italian Electoral System and its Effects on Strategic Coordination and Disproportionality. Italian Political Science, 13(1), 8-18.
- Chiaramonte, A. and V. Emanuele (2022). The deinstitutionalization of Western European party systems. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Chiaramonte, A., V. Emanuele, N. Maggini and A. Paparo (2023). Radical-Right Surge in a Deinstitutionalised Party System: The 2022 Italian General Election. South European Society and Politics, DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2022.2160088
- CISE (2013). Il Parlamento 2013: nuovo e al femminile. Retrieved from https://cise.luiss.it/cise/2013/03/02/il-parlamento-2013-nuovo-e-al-femminile/
- Donal, A. and J. Grogan (2023) ‘The Illegal Immigration Bill’, UK In a Changing Europe, 25 May 2023 (available from: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/the-illegal-migration-bill/ )
- Durovic A. (2023). Rising electoral fragmentation and abstention: the French elections of 2022. West European Politics, 46(3), 614-629.
- Garzia, D. (2013). The 2013 Italian Parliamentary Election: Changing Things So Everything Stays the Same. West European Politics, 36(5), 1095-1105.
- Giovannini, A. and D. Vampa (2022). Boom to Bust. Where Next for Matteo Salvini’s Lega? The Loop. Available from: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/what-happened-to-matteo-salvinis-league/
- Heinisch, R. (2003). Success in opposition – failure in government: explaining the performance of right-wing populist parties in public office. West European Politics, 26(3), 91-130
- Improta, M., Mannoni, E., Marcellino, C., & Trastulli, F. (2022). Voters, issues, and party loyalty: the 2022 Italian election under the magnifying glass. Italian Journal of Electoral Studies QOE-IJES, 85(2), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.36253/qoe-13956
- Ivaldi, G. and E. Zankina (2023). The Impacts of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Right-Wing Populism in Europe. European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS) Report.
- Jones, E. (2023). Italy’s Hard Truths. Journal of Democracy, 34(1), 21-35.
- Kostelka, F. and A. Blais (2023). The generational and institutional sources of the global decline in voter turnout. World Politics, 73(4), 629-667.
- Lopes, H. F. (2023) An unexpected Socialist majority: the 2022 Portuguese general elections. West European Politics, 46(2), 437-450.
- Ministry of the Interior / Ministero dell’Interno (2023). Sbarchi e accoglienza dei migranti: tutti i dati. Available from: https://www.interno.gov.it/it/stampa-e-comunicazione/dati-e-statistiche/sbarchi-e-accoglienza-dei-migranti-tutti-i-dati
- Minkenberg, M. (2001). The radical right in public office: Agenda‐setting and policy effects. West European Politics, 24(4), 1-21
- Openpolis (2018). La carriera politica dei nuovi parlamentari. Retrieved from https://www.openpolis.it/la-carriera-politica-dei-nuovi-parlamentari/
- Openpolis (2022). La XIX legislatura e gli equilibri del nuovo parlamento. Retrieved from https://www.openpolis.it/esercizi/la-composizione-delle-nuove-aule-parlamentari/
- Pappas, T. (2019). Populists in Power. Journal of Democracy, 30(2), 70-84.
- Pasquino, G. and M. Valbruzzi (2015). The impact of the 2013 general election on the Italian political system: the end of bipolarism? Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 20(4), 438-453.
- Pautz, H. (2021). Germany. In D. Albertazzi and D. Vampa (Eds.). Populism and New Patterns of Political Competition in Western Europe. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 112-130.
- Pirro, A. (2018). The polyvalent populism of the 5 Star Movement. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 26(4), 443-458.
- Raunio, T. (2023). The pendulum swings to the right again in Finland. LSE Europp Blog, 6 April 2023. Available from: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2023/04/06/the-pendulum-swings-to-the-right-again-in-finland/
- Rothstein, B. (2023). The Shadow of the Swedish Right. Journal of Democracy, 34(1), 36-49.
- Russell, M. (2000). Reforming the House of Lords: Lessons from Overseas. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Simón, P. (2020). Two-bloc Logic, Polarisation and Coalition Government: The November 2019 General Election in Spain. South European Society and Politics, 25(3-4), 533-563
- Swedish Government (2023) Sweden’s New Migration Policy. Available from: https://www.government.se/government-policy/swedens-new-migration-policy/
- The Economist (2022). “How afraid should Europe be of Giorgia Meloni?” The Economist, 22 September 2022 (available from: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/09/22/how-afraid-should-europe-be-of-giorgia-meloni)
- Vaccari, C. and A. Valeriani (2015). Follow the leader! Direct and indirect flows of political communication during the 2013 Italian general election campaign. New Media & Society, 17(7), 1025-1042.
- Vampa, D. (2023a). Italy: Populism and business in a stagnant economy. In M. Feldmann and G. Morgan (Eds.). Business Elites and Populism: The Odd Couple? Oxford: Oxford University Press, 118–137.
- Vampa, D. (2023b). Brothers of Italy: A New Populist Wave in an Unstable Party System. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Vassallo, S. and L. Verzichelli (Eds.) (2023). ll bipolarismo asimmetrico. L’Italia al voto dopo il decennio populista, Bologna: Il Mulino.