The uncertain path towards social investment in post-crisis Italy

ABSTRACT

Focusing on the welfare reforms promoted by the centre left-led governments (2014–2018) and the short-lived Lega-M5s government (2018–2019) in three policy areas – the labour market, family, and education policies – the article investigates the politics of social investment (SI) in post-crisis Italy. Relying on a multidimensional theoretical framework for analysing policy reforms, the article shows that SI expansion in Italy remains very uncertain. At the same time, the article demonstrates that such uncertain expansion of SI policies is primarily the consequence of a set of interlinked political and contextual variables: the new voter-party linkage in the post-Fordist era; the Southern welfare regime’s policy legacies and the resulting electoral (dis)incentives; Italy’s economic and financial position after the crisis; the specific party competition dynamic, and the structure of the governing coalition. The Italian case suggests that the politics of SI in the Southern countries follow a logic different from the other welfare regimes.

KEYWORDS:

• Social investment
• welfare reforms
• electoral realignment
• policy legacies

Disclosure statement

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

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1. For a more detailed explanation of the methodology, see the supplementary material.

2. Other, small, parties joined the coalition government. The Nuovo Centro Destra (New Centre Right) was the most significant of these, but in terms of welfare reforms, its role was marginal.

3. For more information concerning comparative social expenditure data, see the supplementary material.

4. See the supplementary material.

5. See the supplementary material.

6. Il Foglio (29/09/2016) and Il Sole 24 Ore (13/09/2013).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giovanni Amerigo Giuliani

Giovanni Amerigo Giuliani is a research fellow at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Florence. His main research topic is the politics of the welfare state, with particular reference to social investment policies and the welfare agenda of radical right-wing parties. His recent publications include ‘The distributive implications of welfare reform packages. The Italian case during and after the great crisis’ (European Politics and Society, 2021) and ‘The family policy positions of conservative parties: A farewell to the male-breadwinner family model?’ (European Journal of Political Research, 2021).