The political leadership of Mario Draghi: an historical watershed or an inevitable bump in the road?

Abstract

ABSTRACT 2021 has been a year marking a turning point in the struggle against the pandemic and a time of economic and social transition in European Member States (MS). Italy has fared quite well in comparison to other MS, both with regard to the efficacy of its vaccination campaign and with regard to the drafting of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Most of these successes can certainly be explained by the change of government, and by a revolution in the style of leadership, due to the arrival in office of the new prime minister, Mario Draghi. Yet, it is not entirely clear to what extent Draghi’s leadership has substantially changed Italian politics, especially in the management of periods of crisis. To what extent have unresolved problems in Italian politics been tackled, and to what extent do they persist? Is Draghi’s new leadership style a fleeting phenomenon, or has it triggered a substantial change in the functioning of the Italian polity? After establishing the distinguishing characteristics of Draghi’s leadership, the article describes the most significant of the positive and successful measures adopted by the Government, not forgetting those that were less positive and less successful. Then we discuss the impact of those political, institutional and policy legacies that could have hindered the scope and efficacy of the Government’s actions.