Policy Polarisation in Italy: The Short and Conflictual Life of the ‘Government of Change’ (2018–2019)

ABSTRACT

This article uses the concept of policy polarisation to understand the short and conflictual life of the Conte I cabinet which remained in office in Italy from June 2018 to September 2019. We show how policy polarisation in parliament and between coalition parties shaped the formation and termination of the so-called ‘government of change’. When investigating the implementation of the government agenda, we also assess the role of the coalition contract as an (ineffective) institutional solution to problems stemming from policy divisions between the Five Star Movement and the Lega. We argue that, despite some policy accomplishments of the government, the Five Star Movement-Lega coalition appears more as a temporary experiment, whose legacy may not represent a new course of action.

KEYWORDS:

• Government coalition
• government agenda
• populism
• coalition agreement
• party manifestos
• parliamentary questions
• Five Star Movement
• Lega

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In Italy, yellow is the colour used to represent the Five Star Movement and green is the colour used to represent the Lega (with Lega politicians making public appearances often identifying themselves by wearing green ties or rosettes).

2. According to many observers, some sort of grand coalition between PD and Berlusconi’s party was the most likely outcome after the elections. This (unpopular) outcome was also aired by all the other parties during the campaign as a way to mobilise votes (Chiaramonte et al. 2018).

3. The PD also opposed any agreement with the centre-right parties. Please also note that the PD-FI grand coalition put forth before the elections turned out to be unfeasible as the two parties together did not control a parliamentary majority.

4. In this regard, the Lega’s electoral pledges were similar to those of FI, which centred upon tax reduction. The citizens’ basic income promised by the M5S was instead closer to the schemes proposed by the PD, which included a monthly allowance for parents and welfare support for the poor.

5. For further details, see http://www.comparativeagendas.org/.

6. The Lega’s immigration policy was harshly opposed by left and centre-left parties outside the government (PD and LEU), but not by the right-wing FI and FDI. The latter two parties voted in favour of Salvini’s Security Decrees.

7. Questions have to be submitted to the Speaker of the Chamber the day preceding Question Time. The Rules of Procedure require that questions must address a general and urgent issue, but judging whether this requirement is met is hardly a technical question: in practice, all questions presented in the last legislative term were admitted.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support by the Unitelma Sapienza University research grant 2018 for data collection and the final support of the 2015 PRIN Project of the Italian Ministry of Education: ‘Politics and policy in Europe in times of crisis: Causes and consequences’ (Prot. 2015P7RCL5).

Notes on contributors

Nicolò Conti

Nicolò Conti is a Professor of Political Science at the Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome. His main research interests are in the fields of parties, political elites and public opinion. His work has appeared in journals including West European Politics, European Union Politics, Party Politics, South European Society and Politics, International Political Science Review, Acta Politica, Politics, and Italian Political Science Review.

Andrea Pedrazzani

Andrea Pedrazzani is an Assistant Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Milan. His research interests deal with democratic representation and political institutions. He is author of Fare le leggi nella Seconda Repubblica. Come cambia il Parlamento (Egea, 2017). His work has appeared in journals such as European Journal of Political Research, Party Politics, Government and Opposition, Political Studies, South European Society and Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Parliamentary Affairs, and The Journal of Legislative Studies.

Federico Russo

Federico Russo is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Salento. His research focuses on legislative studies, political representation and European integration. His work has appeared in journals including Party Politics, Parliamentary Affairs, The Journal of European Integration, The Journal of Legislative Studies, and Italian Political Science Review. He is co-editor of The Research Handbook on Political Representation (Edward Elgar Publishing).