Italian Democracy: How It Works

248 Pages·2019·5.3 MB·English

by  Gianfranco Pasquino

Italian Democracy
This textbook, from one of Italy’s most eminent scholars, provides
broad coverage and critique of Italian politics and society.
Providing the readers with the knowledge necessary to understand the
working of the Italian political system, it also offers answers to some of
themostimportantchallengesfacingthecountry–andothercontempor-
ary democracies – today, such as populism, anti-politics and corruption.
Criticalbutunderpinnedbythoroughdataandanalysis,itpresentsalter-
native views alongside the author’s interpretation. Crucially, the book
uses a comparative framework to explain Italy’s transformation and
evaluate its performance. Comparing the rules, institutions, parties and
actors at work in the most important European political systems –
France, Germany, Great Britain – with those in Italy, the Italian context
isbetterunderstoodandassessedincontrast.
This text will be essential reading for students and scholars of Ital-
ian politics and European politics, and more broadly for comparative
politics and democracy.
Gianfranco Pasquino is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the
University of Bologna, Italy and Senior Adjunct Lecturer at SAIS-
Europe.
“Most unexpected, though not unpredictable, events have deeply changed
Italian politicsinrecent years. Italy is notthe ‘mistero buffo’ no outsider can
understand.Jettisoningstereotypesandresortingtoathoughtfulanalysisnur-
tured by comparative knowledge, Gianfranco Pasquino offers to usall a for-
midablelessoninpoliticalscience.”
–GiulianoAmato,PrimeMinisterofItaly(1992–93;2000–01)
“Gianfranco Pasquino, an authority on Italian politics and perceptive com-
mentator, provides a sharp and thoughtful analysis of Italy’s political system
andinstitutions,theirfoundationsandchangesoverthelastdecades.Anyone
interestedinunderstandingItaliandemocracyanditsproblemswouldbewell
advisedtoreadthisbook.”
–IlariaFavretto,KingstonUniversity,UK
“Italian politics may appear complicated – even byzantine – and not only to
outsiders. Gianfranco Pasquino lifts the veil with the skill of a consummate
expert. He provides an indispensable tool to explain and analyse, sometimes
polemically, the intricacies of the Italian political system and does so with a
healthydoseofcomparativeawareness.”
–DonaldSassoon,QueenMary,UniversityofLondon,UK
“The authoritative perspective on Italy’spolitical decline: an outstanding dis-
tillationofalifetime’sstudyofItalianpolitics.”
–DavidHine,ChristChurchCollegeOxford,UK
Italian Democracy
How It Works
GIANFRANCO PASQUINO
Firstpublished2020
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2020GianfrancoPasquino
TherightofGianfrancoPasquinotobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe
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orutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,
orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
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explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
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ISBN:978-1-138-30185-6(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-138-30186-3(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-73217-5(ebk)
TypesetinSabon
bySwales&Willis,Exeter,Devon,UK
Contents
Listoffigures vi
Listoftables viii
Listofboxes x
Listofacronymsandabbreviations xi
Preface xiii
1 AclassicparliamentaryRepublic 1
2 One,two,manyelectorallaws 25
3 Politicalparties,partygovernmentandpartyocracy 47
4 AParliamentofparties 70
5 Governments 97
6 TheaccordionofthePresidents 129
7 Civilsociety 153
8 ItalyandtheEuropeanUnion 180
9 Thequalityofdemocracy 203
Index 230
Figures
2.1 TurnoutinItalyatnational,Europeanandregional
elections,1948–2018(percentage) 30
2.2 Preferentialvotinginnational,Europeanandregional
electionsinItaly,1948–2015(percentage) 31
4.1 ParliamentaryturnoverintheChamberofDeputies,
1948–2018(percentage) 78
4.2 TrustintheItalianParliament,2000–18(percentage) 80
4.3 SourcesofItalianbillsbysponsorandparliamentaryterm
(percentage) 82
4.4 NumberofpartyswitchesintheChamberofDeputies,by
parliamentaryterm 91
6.1 TrustinthePresidentoftheRepublic(percentage) 147
7.1 IndexofpatronageinfifteenEuropeandemocracies 159
7.2 PoliticalterrorisminItaly,1973–2016 162
7.3 EstimatedlevelofevadedtaxesinEUcountries
(billioneuros) 164
7.4 Wealthoffamiliesasapercentageofgrossnationalproduct 165
7.5 DistributionofsocialcapitalintheItalianprovinces 167
7.6 Shifttowardspost-materialistvaluesamongthepublicsof
nineWesternsocieties,1970and2000(percentagepoints) 169
7.7 TotalandnetunionmembershipinItaly,1960–2014 174
8.1 EvolutionofthepublicdebttoGDPinItaly,1861–2017
(percentage) 191
9.1 PoliticalstabilityandabsenceofviolenceineighteenWest
Europeandemocracies,2017 208
9.2 ControlofcorruptionineighteenWestEuropean
democracies,2017 210
9.3 TurnoutinItaliangeneralelectionsbyarea,1992–2018
(percentage) 213
Figures vii
9.4 VoiceandaccountabilityineighteenWestEuropean
democracies,2017 216
9.5 HumanDevelopmentIndexineighteenWestEuropean
democracies,2018 220
9.6 SatisfactionwiththeworkingofItaliandemocracy,
1973–2018(percentage) 221
Tables
1.1 AmendmentstotheItalianConstitutionsince1948 11
2.1 ElectoralsystemsusedinItalyatthenationallevel
since1946 28
2.2 Percentageofmultiplecandidaciesinmulti-memberand
single-memberdistricts,byparty 41
3.1 Electoralresultsofthe1994generalelection
(ChamberofDeputies) 51
3.2 ComparisonbetweentheresultsofItaliangeneral
elections(ChamberofDeputies)in2013and2018 53
3.3 Strengthofparties’organizationsandtheirleaders 54
4.1 Changesinthesocio-demographiccharacteristicsof
ItalianDeputiesandthoserelatedtopoliticalexperience 73
4.2 NumberofcabinetsandPrimeMinistersinItaly,by
parliamentaryterm 74
4.3 ProfessionaloriginofItalianDeputies,2006–18
(percentage) 76
4.4 Law-makinginItaly,bysponsorandrateofapproval 84
4.5 NumberoflawsapprovedinfiveEuropeancountries,
2009–15 84
4.6 Decreelaws,legislativedecreesandlawsinItaly,
1987–2018(numberandpercentage) 86
4.7 Lengthofthelaw-makingprocessintheItalian
Parliament,byoriginofthebill(averagenumberofdays) 86
5.1 Governmentalcompositionandvolatility,1953–2018 100
5.2 PhasesofcoalitiongovernmentintheItalianRepublic,
1945–2018 104
Tables ix
5.3 Tenuresofthelongest-lastinggovernments 109
5.4 TenureofthePresidentsoftheCouncilofMinistersin
Italy,1945–2017 110
5.5 DurationofItaliangovernmentsbycabinettype 111
5.6 TypeofgovernmentreplacementinItaly,1946–2018 118
5.7 Numericallypossiblegovernmentcoalitionsafterthe2018
elections 123
6.1 PresidentsoftheItalianRepublic,1948–2018 131
7.1 FrequencyofsocialactivitiesinItaly,2001–16
(percentage) 154
7.2 OrganizedcrimepresenceinItalybytypeandregion
(percentage) 160
8.1 ItalianandEuropeanfeelingstowardstheEU,2017
(percentage) 187
8.2 RatingsfortheEU,ParliamentandtheCommission
(selectedcountries) 188
8.3 TheEuropeanParliament:ItalianandEuropean
evaluations,2017(percentage) 188
8.4 MostimportantEuropeanpolicies,2017(percentage) 189
8.5 Ismigrationaproblem?(percentage) 192
8.6 RatesofapprovalofthewayinwhichtheEUhasdealt
withtheeconomyandrefugees(percentage) 193
8.7 TheEU:mostpositiveandmostnegativetraits 195
8.8 Feelingsofattachmenttothenation,thecityandtheEU
(percentage) 197
8.9 WhatissharedbyEuropeans(percentage) 197
8.10 ValuessharedbyEuropeans(percentage) 197
8.11 FactorsstrengtheningtheEU(percentage) 198
8.12 DoEuropeancitizensbelievethattheyhaveaninfluencein
theirrespectivecountriesandontheEuropean
institutions?(percentage) 198
8.13 Satisfactionwithdemocracyandthequalityoflife
(percentage) 199
9.1 Intentionalhomicidesandprisonpopulationsin
Europeancountries,2016 207
9.2 FrequencyofpopularreferendumsinItaly,1946–2018 218
9.3 Citizens’evaluationsoftheirowncountry’ssituationand
ofdemocracyintheEU,2017(percentage) 222
9.4 Political rights and civil liberties in the countries
of the EU 223