Pub Date : 2023-03-17DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2191231
F. Coticchia, Francesco N. Moro
ABSTRACT The Russian invasion of Ukraine radically altered the strategic context in which the European armed forces operate. For Italy, the event signalled a critical moment as it pushed for at least a partial re-orientation of defence priorities established over three decades, entailing a possible shift from the Southern to the Eastern front and from crisis management to conventional operations as the main focus of the armed forces. This article reconstructs how Italy is adapting to these new constraints by providing a detailed analysis of the responses undertaken and, at the same time, placing those responses in the broader context of Italian defence transformation in recent decades. The objective is to trace continuities and discontinuities in Italian defence policy under the Draghi government and also to assess potential directions for change under the new cabinet led by Giorgia Meloni.
{"title":"The Italian armed forces and the new conflicts in Europe","authors":"F. Coticchia, Francesco N. Moro","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2191231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2191231","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The Russian invasion of Ukraine radically altered the strategic context in which the European armed forces operate. For Italy, the event signalled a critical moment as it pushed for at least a partial re-orientation of defence priorities established over three decades, entailing a possible shift from the Southern to the Eastern front and from crisis management to conventional operations as the main focus of the armed forces. This article reconstructs how Italy is adapting to these new constraints by providing a detailed analysis of the responses undertaken and, at the same time, placing those responses in the broader context of Italian defence transformation in recent decades. The objective is to trace continuities and discontinuities in Italian defence policy under the Draghi government and also to assess potential directions for change under the new cabinet led by Giorgia Meloni.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"219 - 236"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43541459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-10DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2189080
L. Russo, F. Vegetti
ABSTRACT The 2022 Italian parliamentary elections were largely pictured, especially by the foreign press, as an alarming victory for the extreme right. In this article, we argue that though the 26% obtained by Brothers of Italy was surely an outstanding result, it does not automatically imply that the Italian electorate shifted further to the right in terms of its preferences and ideology. The evidence we present seems rather to suggest that this result is the consequence of Brothers of Italy’s electoral partners, the Lega and Forza Italia, losing their appeal among the centre right’s voters. This, along with an electoral law that favours bipolarity, and division among the remaining coalitions, led to an outstanding victory for the centre right (right-centre?).
{"title":"The general election of 2022: the return of bipolarity?","authors":"L. Russo, F. Vegetti","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2189080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2189080","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The 2022 Italian parliamentary elections were largely pictured, especially by the foreign press, as an alarming victory for the extreme right. In this article, we argue that though the 26% obtained by Brothers of Italy was surely an outstanding result, it does not automatically imply that the Italian electorate shifted further to the right in terms of its preferences and ideology. The evidence we present seems rather to suggest that this result is the consequence of Brothers of Italy’s electoral partners, the Lega and Forza Italia, losing their appeal among the centre right’s voters. This, along with an electoral law that favours bipolarity, and division among the remaining coalitions, led to an outstanding victory for the centre right (right-centre?).","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"159 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43339329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-10DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2188349
A. Cardone, Eleonora Santoro
ABSTRACT This article analyzes the main aspects of the so-called ‘Cartabia’ reform, regarding civil and criminal proceedings as well as changes to the judicial system and the High Council of the Judiciary (CSM). We focus in particular on the judiciary. After a brief description of the legislative process, we offer an interpretation of the innovations introduced by law no. 71/2022 in general, and then evaluate three aspects in detail: access to the Judiciary, the appraisal of judges’ performance and the new electoral system used to select members of the CSM.
{"title":"The Cartabia reform of the judicial system the passing of the baton to the Meloni government","authors":"A. Cardone, Eleonora Santoro","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2188349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2188349","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article analyzes the main aspects of the so-called ‘Cartabia’ reform, regarding civil and criminal proceedings as well as changes to the judicial system and the High Council of the Judiciary (CSM). We focus in particular on the judiciary. After a brief description of the legislative process, we offer an interpretation of the innovations introduced by law no. 71/2022 in general, and then evaluate three aspects in detail: access to the Judiciary, the appraisal of judges’ performance and the new electoral system used to select members of the CSM.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"205 - 218"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47024004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-07DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2186758
Carlo Fusaro
ABSTRACT The first section of this article describes the events surrounding the re-election of Sergio Mattarella; the context in which it took place; the political and economic circumstances it reflected, and to which it could not but represent a response. The second section considers the beginning of Mattarella’s second term, which was marked by a number of highly significant national and international events: the war in Europe; the seamless transition from the COVID to the security emergency; the end of the Draghi government; the dissolution of Parliament; the election of 25 September; the decisive victory of the centre right; the rapid formation of the Meloni government. The article concludes with some reflections on the meaning of the second successive re-election of an Italian president, and its significance for the Italian political system.
{"title":"From the re-election of Sergio Mattarella to the formation of the Meloni government","authors":"Carlo Fusaro","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2186758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2186758","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The first section of this article describes the events surrounding the re-election of Sergio Mattarella; the context in which it took place; the political and economic circumstances it reflected, and to which it could not but represent a response. The second section considers the beginning of Mattarella’s second term, which was marked by a number of highly significant national and international events: the war in Europe; the seamless transition from the COVID to the security emergency; the end of the Draghi government; the dissolution of Parliament; the election of 25 September; the decisive victory of the centre right; the rapid formation of the Meloni government. The article concludes with some reflections on the meaning of the second successive re-election of an Italian president, and its significance for the Italian political system.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"140 - 158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45827625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-07DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2185935
M. Morini
ABSTRACT The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is having an impact all over the world. Italy has often sought to balance EU responses with its national interests towards Russia but in contrast with the past, Mario Draghi’s government took an unequivocally firm stance towards the Kremlin. This article describes the historical origins of the so-called ‘privileged relation’ between Italy and Russia in order to understand better the emergence and development of pro-Russian parties in the Italian political system. How did they react to the war in Ukraine? What kinds of policies have the parties implemented since the start of the conflict? Is there any continuity with the Draghi government? What about the pacifist movement and its political representation? Engaging with these questions enables us to offer a general overview of Italian parties’ attitudes towards this international event in Europe.
{"title":"The stances of the parties and social movements towards Putin’s war: a new line of division?","authors":"M. Morini","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2185935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2185935","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is having an impact all over the world. Italy has often sought to balance EU responses with its national interests towards Russia but in contrast with the past, Mario Draghi’s government took an unequivocally firm stance towards the Kremlin. This article describes the historical origins of the so-called ‘privileged relation’ between Italy and Russia in order to understand better the emergence and development of pro-Russian parties in the Italian political system. How did they react to the war in Ukraine? What kinds of policies have the parties implemented since the start of the conflict? Is there any continuity with the Draghi government? What about the pacifist movement and its political representation? Engaging with these questions enables us to offer a general overview of Italian parties’ attitudes towards this international event in Europe.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"175 - 189"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44945237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-01DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2182735
S. Monaci, Simon Persico
ABSTRACT The COVID-19 health emergency increased disinformation’s role and fostered a growing fragmentation between conflicting opinions on COVID-19 causes, vaccination policies, and government measures to deal with the pandemic. Studies have found that disinformation sources included private citizens, independent organizations, mainstream online newspapers and even public figures such as politicians, commentators, bloggers etc. In Italy, the Twitter debate ignited a conflict between mainstream positions in favour of restrictions, and more libertarian opinions extremely critical of government measures. Our research investigates, through a computational approach based on digital methods and social network analysis (SNA), opinion leaders’ roles in the Italian green pass debate on Twitter that surfaced in the second half of 2021. Drawing on the classic two-step model of communication, our essay identifies the Italian opinion leaders on Twitter and their content dissemination strategies. Our analysis reveals a limited number of dominant voices interacting in segregated networks of users. These networks can be considered echo chambers given the verbose and self-referential tweeting activity of their opinion leaders. Moreover, such activity involves spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories through a dissemination strategy aimed at diverting the audience from Twitter, towards ‘below-the-radar’ environments (e.g. Rumble), where political views are more radical.
{"title":"Who’s fuelling Twitter disinformation on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign? Evidence from a computational analysis of the green pass debate","authors":"S. Monaci, Simon Persico","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2182735","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2182735","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The COVID-19 health emergency increased disinformation’s role and fostered a growing fragmentation between conflicting opinions on COVID-19 causes, vaccination policies, and government measures to deal with the pandemic. Studies have found that disinformation sources included private citizens, independent organizations, mainstream online newspapers and even public figures such as politicians, commentators, bloggers etc. In Italy, the Twitter debate ignited a conflict between mainstream positions in favour of restrictions, and more libertarian opinions extremely critical of government measures. Our research investigates, through a computational approach based on digital methods and social network analysis (SNA), opinion leaders’ roles in the Italian green pass debate on Twitter that surfaced in the second half of 2021. Drawing on the classic two-step model of communication, our essay identifies the Italian opinion leaders on Twitter and their content dissemination strategies. Our analysis reveals a limited number of dominant voices interacting in segregated networks of users. These networks can be considered echo chambers given the verbose and self-referential tweeting activity of their opinion leaders. Moreover, such activity involves spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories through a dissemination strategy aimed at diverting the audience from Twitter, towards ‘below-the-radar’ environments (e.g. Rumble), where political views are more radical.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45723180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-25DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2183930
Matteo Boldrini
{"title":"Local roots and the acquisition of personal votes: the case of single-member district candidates in the 2018 Italian general election","authors":"Matteo Boldrini","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2183930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2183930","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41638372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-16DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2175124
Francesco Marolla, Angelica M. Maineri, J. Tagliabue, Giovanni Cassani
{"title":"Voting, fast and slow: ballot order and likeability effects in the five-star movement’s 2012 online primary election","authors":"Francesco Marolla, Angelica M. Maineri, J. Tagliabue, Giovanni Cassani","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2175124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2175124","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45653214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-13DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2167318
G. Pasquino
{"title":"PD. Un partito da rifare? Le ragioni di una crisi","authors":"G. Pasquino","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2167318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2167318","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"380 - 381"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49268766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/23248823.2023.2167485
Nicoletta Pirozzi, Federico Castiglioni
‘polycrisis’ has driven a wedge between citizens and leaders, increased the distance between EU member states, and further dented perceptions of the effectiveness and legitimacy of the EU among both groups. One question that could be raised, and which remains at the margins of the analysis, is to what extent ‘public opinion’ (a frequently used term) really captures the views of citizens, and when and why they may not be taken as synonymous.
{"title":"The EU’s external governance of migration. Perspectives of justice","authors":"Nicoletta Pirozzi, Federico Castiglioni","doi":"10.1080/23248823.2023.2167485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2023.2167485","url":null,"abstract":"‘polycrisis’ has driven a wedge between citizens and leaders, increased the distance between EU member states, and further dented perceptions of the effectiveness and legitimacy of the EU among both groups. One question that could be raised, and which remains at the margins of the analysis, is to what extent ‘public opinion’ (a frequently used term) really captures the views of citizens, and when and why they may not be taken as synonymous.","PeriodicalId":37572,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Italian Politics","volume":"15 1","pages":"113 - 115"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49382067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}