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Abstract
In contrast to recent research on the Lega Nord, which has focused upon the party's political discourse and propaganda, this paper re-examines the Lega's success among a specific socio-economic and territorial constituency (industrial districts), in the light of the results of the 2008 political elections. The paper applies the concept of ‘simulative politics’ to explain the revival of the Lega's electoral fortunes in its traditional strongholds, in the context of deep and unsettling socio-economic changes and growing feelings of (di)stress among both producers and residents. The analysis concludes that the success of the Lega Nord today can be best understood as a case of ‘simulative politics’.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees and the Editors for their helpful comments on a previous version of this article.
Notes
[1] The Partito Democratico (PD) was formed on 14 October 2007 by a merger of various parties, the largest of which were the Democratici di Sinistra (DS) and the Margherita. The party was led by Walter Veltroni until 21 February 2009, when he was replaced by Dario Franceschini.