Addressing ‘the People’: A Comparative Study of the Lega Nord's and Lega dei Ticinesi's Political Rhetoric and Styles of Propaganda

Abstract

In recent years two populist regionalist parties have emerged in the alpine region, the Lega dei Ticinesi (LDT) in Switzerland and the Lega Nord (LN) in Italy. However, while typical populist themes such as the constant attacks against professional politicians and appeals to the ‘people’ resonate in the rhetoric of both movements, what differentiates them is the style of their propaganda, as the LDT's paper, Il Mattino della Domenica, constantly strives to shock its readers in ways that are alien to the Italian leghisti. Following a discussion of the strength, organisation and rhetoric of the two parties, this articles addresses the reasons why they have adopted different strategies of communication by considering the parties’ constituencies, the nature of their media and the personalities of their leaders.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the leaders of the Lega dei Ticinesi and the Lega Nord mentioned in this article for agreeing to be interviewed and to Charlotte Ross and Duncan McDonnell for their help in translating the Lega dei Ticinesi's most curious expressions into English.

Notes

Notes

[1] For an extended discussion of both left and right-wing populism in contemporary Europe and the conditions that facilitate or hinder its emergence, see Albertazzi and McDonnell eds. (2007).

[2] Some comparative analysis of the LDT and the Schweizerische Volkspartei/Union Démocratique du Centre (SVP/UDC) is offered by Mazzoleni (2003a, 2003b). On the origins of the LDT, see Knüsel and Hottinger (1994) and Mazzoleni (1995); on its ‘normalization’, Mazzoleni (1999); on its rhetoric, Mazzoleni (2005) and Albertazzi (2006). On the LN in the 1990s the classics remain Diamanti (1993, 1996) and Biorcio (1997), although there is now a rich literature available in Italian. As for books in English, see Cento Bull and Gilbert (2001), Tambini (2001), Gomez-Reino Cachafeiro (2002), Gold (2003) and Huysseune (2006). Extended analyses of the LDT, as well as comparative studies of the two leagues, are still lacking.

[3] The Italian electoral system was changed back into a proportional one in 2005.

[4] La Padania defines the people of Ticino as ‘brothers from whom we have been separated’ (Bassi 2005, p. 5).

[5] This is true even for the LDT which finds itself leading the eurosceptics in a very anti-EU canton such as Ticino, but in the context of a nation which is moving closer and closer to the EU.

[6] In general, rallies, rituals and symbols have been deployed much more consistently by the LN, while the Ticinesi have been keen on referendums, in a country where they often constitute a crucial step in the decision-making process. Many recent initiatives of the LDT have been concerned with the relationship between Switzerland and international bodies such as the EU and the UN.

[7] The LDT opposed the intervention in Kosovo in 1999, alongside the LN (see Il Mattino della Domenica, 6 June 1999), and both Gulf wars. But while the Ticinesi explained their opposition by adopting the cynicism of the ‘common man’ who is confronted by the ‘eternal ideals’ of the warrior and does not believe in them, the LN's opposition to the American intervention in Kosovo was motivated rather by fear of the Islamic religion, i.e. the LN chose to side with the Christian Serbs against Muslim Kosovars.

[8] This section adopts and develops ideas on ‘newsroom populism’ by Plasser and Ulram 2003.

[9] The neologism ‘meravigliao’ is borrowed from a TV programme that was broadcast on Italian television in the second half of the eighties. Italian television is widely seen in Ticino.

[10] Some of these words are neologisms and some dialect, several a mixture of the two.

[11] The reference is to the novel The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Politicians of the left are accused of pushing for dramatic changes so that ‘things can stay as they are’, as one of the most quoted lines of the book reads.

[12] For a recent example, see how La Padania covered the ‘motion of solidarity’ to the Pope that the LN wanted to discuss in parliament on 17 September 2006 (e.g. Paragone 2006). The initiative was taken after Benedict XVI angered Muslims worldwide by allegedly insulting Islam in a lecture delivered in Germany.