Re-inventing the Italian Right: Territorial politics, populism and 'post-fascism'

by Stefano Fella; Dipartimento Di

• ISBN13: 9780415344616
• ISBN10: 0415344611
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was the most controversial leading politician in Europe. This is a sharp examination of the Berlusconi phenomenon, explaining the development of his former ruling coalition and how it proved so successful despite heavy domestic and international criticism. Each of the three main partners in the former ruling coalition - Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, the 'post-fascist' National Alliance and the Lega Nord - are examined in detail and the discussion is framed in a comparative perspective, exploring the nature of the Italian Right in the context of right-wing parties and the populist phenomenon elsewhere in other liberal democracies. The authors also discuss whether the Italian Right poses a threat to democracy in Italy. This is an excellent insight into a key European nation.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. xii
Series Editors' Preface	p. xiv
Acknowledgments	p. xviii
Abbreviations	p. xx
Introduction	p. 1
Structure and general approach of book	p. 6
Right and centre right in the post-war party system	p. 10
Christian democracy and the post-war centre right	p. 11
The MSI and the extreme right	p. 13
The political system of the post-war republic	p. 16
The decline of the old party system	p. 19
The foundation of the League and the re-discovery of the centre-periphery dimension	p. 21
The political crisis of the 1990s and the collapse of the party system	p. 23
Berlusconi enters the field and the right enters government	p. 27
The right in opposition - consolidation and radicalisation	p. 28
The CdL and the second Berlusconi government	p. 31
Re-invention and resurrection: 2006-8	p. 38
Conclusion	p. 41
Populism and the right - an explanatory model	p. 42
Defining the right	p. 43
Dynamics related to the political system, societal factors and institutional developments	p. 46
Social change and its interpreters	p. 47
Institutional developments and emerging new political space	p. 47
Ideologies of the right	p. 48
A framework for understanding the success of the right	p. 50
Populism and anti-politics	p. 51
Methodological notes	p. 57
A model to study populism	p. 60
Conclusion	p. 61
The Northern League	p. 63
The League in a changing political environment	p. 64
Elections and electorates	p. 67
Leadership	p. 71
The party organisation	p. 75
The party in government	p. 77
Ideology	p. 80
Frame analysis - the main ideological features of the League	p. 85
The politics of the enemy, immigration and ethno-populism	p. 89
General racism and xenophobia	p. 96
Language in the League's political culture and communication strategy	p. 98
Conclusion	p. 102
Forza Italia	p. 104
The foundation of Forza Italia	p. 105
The 1994 election	p. 107
FI in opposition (1995-2001) - consolidation and re-organisation	p. 109
The 2001 general election and the return to government	p. 111
Electorates	p. 112
Berlusconi's populist leadership	p. 114
The business-firm party model	p. 121
A party with institutional and territorial roots?	p. 124
Forza Italia in government	p. 126
Ideology	p. 128
Frame analysis	p. 129
Anti-bureaucracy, anti-partyocracy and anti-politics	p. 130
Welfarism, liberalism and protectionism	p. 132
Security, traditional family, law and order	p. 133
Europe and the nation	p. 134
Immigration	p. 135
Populism and the people	p. 136
Conclusion	p. 137
The MSI-AN	p. 141
Historical background	p. 142
Elections and electorates	p. 145
Fini's changing leadership	p. 146
The party	p. 149
Ideology	p. 158
Frame analysis: continuity and change in the ideology of the AN	p. 163
Conclusion	p. 181
Sources of success of the Italian right	p. 183
Reviewing the findings: core and peripheral elements in Italian populism	p. 186
Mythologies of the right and their fit with the electorate	p. 196
Convergence and divergence in populist frames: three types of right	p. 205
The PdL and the 2008 election	p. 208
Conclusions	p. 213
Conclusion: populism and the right	p. 214
Introduction	p. 214
Reassessing the literature on the right	p. 214
Explaining the success and failure of the populist right	p. 221
The role of the media	p. 227
Leadership, charisma and theatrical politics	p. 228
The policies of the right and Italian society	p. 231
Italian politics and European democracy	p. 234
Election results 1994-2008	p. 239
Frame analysis	p. 240
Notes	p. 244
Party materials	p. 250
References	p. 253
Index	p. 267
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