From ‘Anomaly’ to ‘Laboratory’? Fratelli d’Italia, Illiberalism and the Study of Right-Wing Parties in Western Europe

Abstract

Once considered an anomaly for its polarized pluralism, then marked, over the last three decades, by frequent alternations between populist and technocratic governments, Italy is now the only country in Western Europe whose coalition government is led by a party usually classified in the populist radical right family, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia). While this means that the country has finally its first female Prime Minister, understanding the trajectory of the party is important not just for the state of Italian politics but also for comparative politics more in general. Taking stock of the recent literature on Meloni’s party, it appears that the choices made by the Fratelli d’Italia – in Italy and in Europe – can resonate beyond the national borders especially in terms of illiberal ideologies and practices of right-wing parties.