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Italians and Their Democracy. How the Economic Crisis Affected Voters’ Attitudes

Sat, September 1, 12:00 to 1:30pm, Sheraton, Beacon E

Abstract

Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, many European party systems have been stressed by relevant changes. One may recall defeats and demises suffered by traditional parties, rise of new and anti-establishment parties [Abedi 2004; Heinisch and Mazzoleni 2016], and mounting troubles in the actual working of political institutions [Rombi and Venturino forthcoming]. Italy is not an exception to this general trend. There populist parties – such as Lega and above all Movimento 5 Stelle – have won exceptional successes, deadlocking after the 2013 parliamentary election the formation of the national government and the selection of the head of the state [Itanes 2013].
Seemingly, the crisis years have worsened the operative conditions of Italian political system, often depicted in the past as a not working democracy. This paper focuses on voters’ attitudinal changes underpinning the actual functioning of the Italian institutions. In the past, Italian citizens’ political culture has been frequently depicted by comparative researches as unfit for democratic practices [Almond and Verba 1963; Putnam 1993]. Building on this literature, I aim to find out whether during the last 12 years Italian voters’ attitudes toward democracy, its political actors and its political institutions have eventually degenerated. Relevant dimensions of the Italians’ political culture may be assessed through measures of trust, interest in politics, internal and external efficacy, sophistication, involvement, leader approval; they will be also related with supported parties [Knutsen 2018].
To do so, I make use of the Itanes (ITAlian National Election Studies) survey data collected in 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2018 during parliamentary elections. These data allow to retrace the Italians’ political attitudes before and during the years of the economic crisis.


References
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Almond G. and Verba S. [1963]. The Civic Culture. Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Heinisch R. and Mazzoleni O. (eds.) [2016]. Understanding Populist Party Organisation. The Radical Right in Western Europe. London: Palgrave.
Iglesias-Rodríguez P., Triandafyllidou A. and Gropas R. (eds.) [2016]. After the Financial Crisis. Shifting Legal, Economic and Political Paradigms. London: Palgrave.
Itanes [2013]. Voto amaro. Disincanto e crisi economica nelle elezioi del 2013. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Knutsen O. [2018]. Social Structure, Value Orientations and Party Choice in Western Europe. London: Palgrave.
Putnam R. [1993]. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rombi S. and Venturino F. [forthcoming]. ‘The Cornerstone of Quality of Democracy: Electoral Accountability in EU Member States’, in G. Sandri and L. Tomini (eds.), The Quality of Democracy. Fostering a New Research Agenda. London and New York: Routledge.

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