Italy and Europe: from competence to Solidarity to competence

Jones, Erik

doi:10.1080/23248823.2021.1911617

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…It was not successful at doing much else. While Conte saw a surge in popularity after successfully navigating the crisis, his approval ratings drifted ever lower as his inability to govern became apparent (Jones, 2021). Meanwhile, the M5S and the PD fought with one another over policy and administrative elections while the Lega continuously attacked the government.…”

Section: Italy -From Parties To Personalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This planning for the recovery marked a second departure from the norm. Conte convened Italian special interests in a 'general estates' to solicit their input and support directly (Jones, 2021). He also concentrated that information and planning within a small circle of advisors attached to his office (Rullo, 2021).…”

Section: Italy: Emergency Powers and Security Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There were voices opposed to Conte's new-found authority -both inside and outside the government -and yet the prime minister's popularity and the PD's fear of an alternative center-right majority were enough to hold the coalition government together. If anything, Conte's ability to sell his role as advocate for the European Recovery Fund strengthened his position (Jones, 2021). The PD leadership could complain that Conte should make planning to spend the money more transparent, but the prime minister effectively ignored them.…”

Section: Italy: Emergency Powers and Security Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Riders on the storm: the politics of disruption in European member states during the COVID-19 pandemic

Anghel

Jones

2022

East European Politics

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This paper explores how democracies handle the trade-off between public safety and fundamental democratic principles. We show that an exogenous shock, like the pandemic, creates incentives for governing elites to deploy self-empowering mechanisms to avoid institutional checks and balances -with lasting consequences for democratic performance. We examine this prospect in Italy and Romania. These cases have a long history of institutional gridlock; such history reinforces incentives to work around traditional institutions in responding to the pandemic. While the two cases vary in terms of the quality and resilience of their democratic institutions, we find that elites displayed a similar propensity to overlook the intricate institutional balances during a moment of crisis. In Italy, the executive strengthened its power relative to the legislature; in Romania, the strengthening is relative to the judiciary. This finding has implications in assessing the risk for falling standards of liberal democracy across the European Union.

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Section: Italy -From Parties To Personalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Italy: Emergency Powers and Security Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Italy: Emergency Powers and Security Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Riders on the storm: the politics of disruption in European member states during the COVID-19 pandemic

Anghel

Jones

2022

East European Politics

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“…As the most intense phase of the crisis passed, Conte's popularity faded along with it. 4 Renzi sabotaged Conte's government in January 2021 when he realized that the President of the Republic could recruit Draghi as a technocratic prime minister. A major reason so many political parties lined up behind Draghi is that Mattarella made it clear that the only alternative would be to face the electorate -and virtually everyone apart from Meloni rejected that option.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Italy's Hard Truths

Jones¹

2023

Journal of Democracy

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the desire to change the Italian constitution so that it can have a directly elected president like France. Given that Meloni is already close to the governments of Poland and Hungary, both widely accused of democratic backsliding, these other signs are less reassuring. Italy has a strong, democratically elected government, and yet that government's commitment to liberal values is unconvincing.Then again, Meloni's policy agenda does not seem as frightening as her rhetoric -and the occasional outbursts from her allies -might suggest. Her government responded to a rave-party incident that brought hundreds of partygoers from across Europe to an abandoned warehouse in Modena with a poorly drafted piece of legislation that seemed to threaten the right of assembly, but her newly appointed Minister of Justice quickly backpedalled and even admitted having made a mistake in reacting too quickly. Meloni's response to migration was more bluster than real as well, and when she challenged French President Macron, she quickly backed down in the face of his full-throated response while looking for ways to diffuse the controversy. Even Meloni's first budget proposal, assembled at record speed, was softer than her campaign rhetoric had suggested -so much so that the main centrist group outside her coalition signalled a willingness to work with her to improve it. On top of that, she managed to get most of the Italian parliament to join in supporting further assistance to Ukraine, including additional armaments. Despite their origins on the far right, Meloni and her government appear both reasonable and accommodating, and while it is still early days, they also appear likely to last longer in office than any of her recent predecessors. The new right wing government is popular, scary, and competent, all at the same time. This is just one of the ways that Italian democracy inspires cognitive dissonance. Past as prologueResolving the contradiction is not easy. Scratch the surface and previous governments are not obviously superior to the one Meloni currently leads -at least in terms of their democratic potential,

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The Italian Government’s Pandemic Communication from Giuseppe Conte to Mario Draghi: Between “Leadership Building” and “Crisis Resolution”

Ventura

2022

Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication

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Italy and Europe: from competence to Solidarity to competence

Cited by 8 publications

References 17 publications

Riders on the storm: the politics of disruption in European member states during the COVID-19 pandemic

Riders on the storm: the politics of disruption in European member states during the COVID-19 pandemic

Italy's Hard Truths

The Italian Government’s Pandemic Communication from Giuseppe Conte to Mario Draghi: Between “Leadership Building” and “Crisis Resolution”

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