From Democrazia Cristiana to Forza Italia and the Popolo della Libertà: Partisan change in Italy

Paolucci, Caterina

doi:10.1080/13532940802367737

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Yet many transformations are now affecting personal parties, caused by a combination of the leaderisation of political parties and their internal fragmentation. FI has developed a new model of political party where the leader has to interact with other party components, often developed at the local level: a model that some have also associated with the image of stratarchy (Paolucci 1999(Paolucci , 2008. Indeed, this party provides 'sets of overlapping central-local party organisational units, and authority can be exercised by separate and multiple leaderships accountable to either common or different party constituencies' (Carty 2004, 9).…”

Section: F Musellamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In addition to this, although after the 2008 general election Berlusconi had scored the largest numerical majority in the history of the Italian Republic, a large number of MPs defected, leaving Berlusconi to walk on the thin ice of a slender majority. One may raise the question of whether the People of Freedom (PdL) is 'another' political party, where unitary leadership at the top has been combined with a plurality of factions which might remind us of the fragmentation of the DC (Paolucci 2008;McDonnell 2013;.…”

Section: Contemporary Italian Politics 225mentioning

confidence: 99%

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How personal parties change: party organisation and (in)discipline in Italy (1994–2013)

Musella

2014

Contemporary Italian Politics

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The rise of personal parties is one of the most relevant and innovative political phenomena to emerge from the Italian Second Republic. During the 1990s, Forza Italia presented a new type of party political organisation where personalisation, professionalisation and centralisation represented the keys to success that led Silvio Berlusconi to three general election victories, and that were soon variously taken up by both the centre-right and centre-left coalitions. Yet, two decades after Berlusconi entered politics, the personalisation of politics is showing another face, being no longer confined to party leadership, but affecting the party at all levels. Italian political parties seem to be split into a large number of components headed by sub-leaders. With the complicity of the new electoral system, a process of personalistic atomisation has threatened the cohesiveness -and sometimes the very survival -of Italy's most consolidated political organisations. In this article, after an analysis of the evolution of personal parties in the Italian context, attention will be paid to some indicators of intra-party individualism, such as the proliferation of parliamentary groups, frequent party switching and indiscipline in carrying out legislative activities. The analysis of leadership-driven transformations occurring in party structures (the so-called party in central office) will be combined with an investigation of what is happening in representative institutions (the party in public office).

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Section: F Musellamentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Contemporary Italian Politics 225mentioning

confidence: 99%

How personal parties change: party organisation and (in)discipline in Italy (1994–2013)

Musella

2014

Contemporary Italian Politics

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“…First, the party was created similar to a pure electoral 'American' party in which the 'firm' was actually part of the organisation (Raniolo 2000, 166). After the fall of the first Berlusconi cabinet in December 1994, FI sought to build a more structured local apparatus; in 1997 a new statute was approved, and the party was reorganised following the model of the old mass Christian Democrat Party (Paolucci 2008). However, in spite of the electoral victory of 2001, in 2003, the new party coordinator, Sandro Bondi, returned to a 'light' party based on elected representatives.…”

Section: Formal Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Owner parties and party institutionalisation in Italy: is the Northern League exceptional?

Vercesi

2015

Modern Italy

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Studies on party institutionalisation commonly argue that parties with personalist leadership and weak organisation are unlikely to remain in power beyond leadership succession. In other words, these parties will rarely attain their own institutionalisation. From this perspective, the recent Italian political reality represents a conundrum. Three parties of this type – Northern League; Forza Italia; Italy of Values – confronted significant resignation issues concerning their leaders, but only the League, contrary to the theory, made a decisive step toward institutionalisation by removing its founding father and remaining an actor with national blackmail potential. This article addresses this challenge and provides a solution to this conundrum. In particular, the article demonstrates that an approach that considers both party factors and critical events is necessary to account fully for the variance of outcomes and, more generally, for party change.

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“…In her 2001 study, Emanuela Poli argues that when the former Christian Democrat, Claudio Scajola, was national FI coordinator in the second half of the 1990s, the party established a genuine territorial presence and membership. Paolucci (2008, p. 472) contends however that Scajola's efforts to create a mass party ultimately ‘failed entirely’, especially once the party returned to government in 2001.…”

Section: Forza Italia: a Personal Partymentioning

confidence: 99%

Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties: From Forza Italia to the Popolo Della Libertà

McDonnell

2013

Political Studies

107

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Despite the electoral success of Silvio Berlusconi's two political parties, little theoretical and empirical work has been done on Forza Italia (FI) and the Popolo Della Libertà (PDL -People of Freedom).This article aims to fill these gaps. Following a short overview of the history of FI and the PDL, it discusses how scholars have conceived of Forza Italia. Building on the criteria of Joseph LaPalombara and Myron Weiner for the definition of a political party, a first operational definition is then offered of the term most used to classify FI and the PDL: the 'personal party'. On the basis of this, the article considers whether the PDL is another personal party akin to Forza Italia.This is done, first, by briefly considering the party statute and communications and, second, by examining the views expressed in interviews conducted across Italy with PDL elected representatives and ordinary party members.Considering the electoral successes of Silvio Berlusconi's political parties -not to mention the international attention and debates that have surrounded their leader -it is striking how little theoretical and empirical work is available on Forza Italia (FI) and the Popolo Della Libertà (PDL -People of Freedom). Following a number of useful studies in the early years of FI's existence (Hopkin and Paolucci, 1999;Maraffi, 1995;Paolucci, 1999;Poli, 2001), very few attempts have since been made to advance and update our understanding first of Forza Italia and then the PDL as party organisations (e.g. Raniolo, 2006). Moreover, at no time (to my knowledge) have scholars investigated the organisational character of FI and the PDL through interviews with both party representatives and members. Simply put, while we now know a lot about what (allegedly) happens inside Berlusconi's private parties, we know almost nothing about the view from inside his political ones.This article aims to go some way towards filling these theoretical and empirical gaps. After a short overview of the history of FI and the PDL in the first section, the second will discuss how party scholars have conceived of Forza Italia, particularly in terms of its organisation. By adapting the criteria of Joseph LaPalombara and Myron Weiner (1966, pp. 6-7) for the definition of a political party, I will offer an operational definition of the term most used in Italian to classify FI and the PDL: the 'personal party'. On the basis of this definition, in the third and fourth sections the article will consider whether the PDL is, like Forza Italia, another personal party.This will be done by briefly considering the party statute and communications and then by examining the views expressed in face-to-face interviews conducted across Italy between October 2009 and December 2010 with PDL representatives and ordinary party members. In particular, and in line with the definitional criteria proposed in the article for a personal party, I will look at how respondents saw the party's future, its dependence on Berlusconi and its organisation at local level. bs_bs_banner

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From Democrazia Cristiana to Forza Italia and the Popolo della Libertà: Partisan change in Italy

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

How personal parties change: party organisation and (in)discipline in Italy (1994–2013)

How personal parties change: party organisation and (in)discipline in Italy (1994–2013)

Owner parties and party institutionalisation in Italy: is the Northern League exceptional?

Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties: From Forza Italia to the Popolo Della Libertà

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