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Abstract
Italy is often presented as a showcase of populist parties. In the 2013 parliamentary elections, half of the Italian electorate voted for a party that has been labelled populist. During the 1994–2011 period, Italy witnessed four coalition governments dominated by populists. In line with the framework guiding this special issue, Italy thus offers a unique opportunity to trace the reactions of political and societal actors to populists in government. We propose that it is necessary to examine not only how populism's opponents react, but also how fellow populists respond. Indeed, we observe in Italy, on the one hand, what we will call mutating populism and, on the other hand, a peculiar mixture of paralysis, antagonism, and imitation by their opponents. This contribution is structured as follows: first, we describe Italian populism in the context of the end of the Italian First Republic and the emergence of the new party system under the Second Republic. In the process we discuss events under the four Berlusconi governments (1994–1995; 2001–2005; 2005–2006; 2008–2011). In each phase, we distinguish between populist and anti-populist contenders. We also describe the reactions abroad to governing Italian populists, especially within the European Union.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors of the special issue for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Bertjan Verbeek is Professor of International Relations at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He has written extensively on the relationship between domestic and international politics as well as on the role of international organizations in world politics. With Giampiero Giacomello he edited Italy's foreign policy in the twenty-first century: the new assertiveness of an aspiring middle power (Lexington Books, 2011).
Andrej Zaslove is Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His research focuses on populism, political parties, and immigration. His recent publications appear in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Patterns of Prejudice, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. He is also the author of The Re-invention of the European Radical Right: Populism, Regionalism, and the Italian Lega Nord (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP, 2011).
Notes
1 Rovira Kaltwasser and Taggart, “Introduction to this special issue.”
2 Diamanti, “The Northern League”; Diamanti, Il Male del Nord.
3 Cento Bull and Gilbert, The Lega Nord; Diamanti, Il Male del Nord.
4 Biorcio, La Padania.
5 Ibid.
6 Diamanti, La Lega; Diamanti, “The Northern League”; Biorcio, La Padania; Cento Bull and Gilbert, The Lega Nord.
7 Diamanti, “The Northern League”; Zaslove, The Re-invention of the European Radical Right; Cento Bull and Gilbert, The Lega Nord.
8 Diamanti, “The Northern League”; McCarthy, “Forza Italia.”
9 Fella and Ruzza, “Populism and the Fall of the Centre-Right”; Ruzza and Fella, Re-inventing the Italian Right; Zaslove, The Re-invention of the European Radical Right.
10 Diamanti and Lello, “The Casa delle Libertà”; Diamanti, “The Italian Centre-Right and Centre-Left.”
11 Cf. Fella and Ruzza, “Populism and the Fall of the Centre-Right”; Biorcio, “The Reasons for the Success.”
12 Biorcio, “The Reasons for the Success”; Natale, “The Birth, Early History.”
13 Corbetta and Vignati, “Left or Right?”
14 Cf. Rovira Kaltwasser and Taggart, “Introduction.”
15 Diamanti, La Lega; Diamanti, “The Northern League”; McCarthy, “Forza Italia.”
16 Diamanti, “The Northern League.”
17 Poli, Forza Italia; Diamanti and Lello, “The Casa delle Libertà.”
18 Ruzza and Fella, Re-inventing the Italian Right; Zaslove, The Re-invention of the European Radical Right.
19 Diamanti, “The Italian Centre-Right and Centre-Left”; Diamanti and Lello, “The Casa delle Libertà”; Diamanti, Mappe dell'Italia Politica; Bartolini, Chiaramonte, and D'Alimonte, “The Italian Party System.”
20 Diamanti and Lello, “The Casa delle Libertà”; Albertazzi and McDonnell, “The Lega Nord.”
21 Campus, “Defeat and Divided.”
22 Especially regarding Berlusconi see: McDonnell, “Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties”; Musella, “How Personal Parties Change”; Diamanti, “2013: Il Paese delle Minoranze.”
23 Fella and Ruzza, “Populism and the Fall of the Centre-Right.”
24 Biorcio, “The Reasons for the Success.”
25 Diamanti, “2013: Il Paese delle Minoranze”; Natale, “The Birth, Early History”; Corbetta and Vignati, “Left or Right?”
26 Diamanti, “2013: Il Paese delle Minoranze”; Diamanti, “The 5 Star Movement”; Biorcio, “The Reasons for the Success”; Bordignon and Ceccarini, “‘Tsunami’ a 5 stelle.”
27 Pasquino, “Italian Presidents.”
28 Vassallo, “Government under Berlusconi.”
29 Pasquino, “La Presidenzia Ciampi.”
30 Blondel and Segatti, “Il Secondo Governo di Berlusconi,” 29.
31 New York Times, “From Ceremonial figure,” A7.
32 Pasquino “La Presidenzia Ciampi,” 99.
33 Davidson, “In and Out of Iraq.”
34 Della Porta and Vannucci, “Corruption and Anti-corruption,” 820–831.
35 Nelken, “Berlusconi,” 149.
36 Ibid., 135–145.
37 Ibid., 146.
38 Cepernich, “The Changing Face.”
39 Ibid., 32.
40 Ibid., 37.
41 Ibid., 32–45.
42 Ibid., 41.
43 Ibid.
44 Cullura, “Expelled Senator.”
45 Zaslove, The Re-invention of the European Radical Right.
46 Della Porta, “Immigration and Protest.”
47 Newell, “Italy,” 24–25.
48 Ibid., 24.
49 Ibid., 24–26.
50 Ceri, “Challenging from the Grass Roots,” 83–84.
51 Ibid., 84.
52 Ibid., 84.
53 Ibid., 87.
54 Ibid., 88–9.
55 Bordignon and Ceccarini, “‘Tsunami’ a 5 Stelle”; Biorcio, “The Reasons for the Success”; Natale, “The Birth, Early History”; Biorcio and Natale, Politica a 5 Stelle.
56 Cf. Verbeek and Zaslove, “The Impact of Populist Radical Right.”
57 Strange, “Casino Capitalism.”
58 Bufacchi and Burgess, Italy since 1989, 202–203.
59 Telò, “Italy's Interaction.”
60 Fabbrini, “The Rise and Fall,” 167–168.
61 Cf. Downey and Koenig, “Is there a European Public Sphere?”
62 Cf. Tentarelli, “Seen from Abroad.”
63 Ginsborg, Italy and its Discontents, 314.
64 Downey and Koenig, “Is there a European Public Sphere?”
65 Heinisch, “Success in Opposition–Failure in Government”; Van der Vleuten and Hoffman, “Explaining the Enforcement of Democracy.”
66 Giacomello, Ferrari, and Amadori, “With Friends like These.”
67 Kaltwasser and Taggart, “Introduction.”
68 Ibid.
69 Dahl, Polyarchy.