The dissatisfied society: The roots of political change in Italy

Morlino, Leonardo; Tarchi, Marco

doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1996.tb00667.x

Cited by 176 publications

(46 citation statements)

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“…In fact, we can see that the ICC does not get much lower and that the amount of variance explained at the year level by model 2 is small. As has already been noted, the individual component of dissatisfaction in Italy seems to be marginal (Morlino and Tarchi 1996).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Dissatisfaction with democracy in Italy also differs significantly from other southern European countries at least until the beginning of 2008, when the whole area experienced the beginning of one of the deepest economic crises in its recent history. Overall, the Italian pattern seems to resemble those of the new eastern democracies, indicating the low quality of outcome and performance achieved by the political system in Italy and the failure of decisions taken by political elites during the period (Memoli 2009;Morlino and Tarchi 1996). Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that dissatisfaction has fluctuated over time and that it is possible to identify cycles that correspond to specific phases of democratisation of the Italian political system.…”

Section: Forty Years Of Political Discontent In Italymentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Italian democracy has been described as 'anomalous' in that it has featured widespread political dissatisfaction in civil society since its outset (Morlino and Tarchi 1996). This is also cited as the primary factor that has fuelled political change in the country and popular support for system reform (Shugart and Wattenberg 2001).…”

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confidence: 98%

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Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013

Martini¹,

Quaranta²

2014

West European Politics

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This article analyses the long-term dissatisfaction of citizens with democracy in Italy in light of the economic and institutional transformations that have occurred over the last four decades. Using multilevel analysis, the results challenge previous research showing how poor economic performance in the form of unemployment and inflation has increased dissatisfaction. Most importantly, the article demonstrates that the widespread political dissatisfaction can be connected to fragmentation of the party system. In this regard, the impact of the electoral reforms that have been introduced are assessed. These favoured a recovery of satisfaction between the 'First' and the 'Second' Republic due to the emergence of bi-polar political competition. However, the effect has been contained by an inability to substantially reduce the number of parties. By drawing on compelling data, this study provides systematic evidence of the macro-foundations of Italian political discontent.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Forty Years Of Political Discontent In Italymentioning

confidence: 89%

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Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013

Martini¹,

Quaranta²

2014

West European Politics

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“…These traditional traits of Italian political culture, together with a very weak feeling of national identity in civic terms, entail constantly high levels of political distrust and discontent and are considered as the main explanatory factors, at social level, of the diffuse tolerance towards the generalised corruption (Davigo and Mannozzi, 2007), but also of the widespread feeling of social isolation and political alienation (Almond and Verba, 1989;Segatti, 2006). The latter points can be thus considered as general indicators of a failed process of modernisation of Italian politics, but also -at the same time -the main factors triggering political change in the given, specific political contexts of crisis (Morlino and Tarchi, 1996;Mutti, 2000).…”

Section: The Transformations and The Recurring Crises Of Italian Demomentioning

confidence: 99%

Political system, civil society and institutions in Italy: The quality of democracy

2013

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Italy's economy and polity are considered to be continuously in turmoil.The recent multiplication of corruption affairs, the spreading of clientelistic practices, the internal economic crisis and the decline in the country's role on the European and international stages suggest that Italy is at a political and historical turning point. For the above stated reasons, it appears relevant to re-evaluate the state and quality of Italian democracy. On the basis of a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, this study aims to analyse the recent changes in Italian polity, economy and society in order to assess whether Italy can be considered as a 'deviant case' among European countries. In this article, we present a preliminary reflection on this research question and we outline the topics of concern that will be explored in this special issue. The first part of the article highlights the transformation of Italian democracy over the years with an emphasis on the persisting inconsistency between institutions and civil society. The second part of this article addresses the problem of the current political and economic crisis and the erosion of the democratic quality of Italian political and institutional settings. The third section addresses the question of whether Italy, in a comparative perspective, can be considered alternatively a 'backward' country in terms of democratic development, a political and institutional laboratory of future trends, an anomaly compared to other European democracies or, finally, a specific variation of common trends already characterizing other European democracies.

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“…At the same time, there remain grounds for caution, since certain case studies suggest that economic performance, by itself, may provide only a poor fit to account for trends in political trust observed in many countries. Among post-industrial societies, for example, both Italy and Japan experienced rapid economic growth during the post-war era, although we have already observed that political disaffection in both countries remains pervasive and enduring (Morlino and Tarchi 1996;Pharr 2000). Moreover American confidence in government declined throughout the 1960s, despite the prosperous US economy during this decade (Lawrence 1997).…”

Section: Policy Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

How Democracy Works : Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies

Rosema¹,

Denters²,

Aarts³

2011

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DemocracyCover design and layout: Maedium, Utrecht All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owners and the authors of the book. PrefaceThere are many good reasons to present a book on the functioning of representative democracy at this precise moment. But the true reason for its creation is a special event of a personal nature: the formal retirement of Jacques Thomassen at the University of Twente. In his long and impressive academic career Jacques Thomassen has greatly contributed to the study of democracy. He has authored and edited several influential academic works, which already started with one of his first articles in 1976, entitled "Party identification as a cross-national concept," which is still considered to be a classic in the literature on voting behavior. His publications since include many books in both Dutch and English, often published by the leading academic publishers in political science. His reputation as an editor of books is almost unrivalled in political science. But there is much more. Jacques Thomassen has played a vital role in the development of major national and international data collection projects about political institutions, such as the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies, Dutch Parliament Studies, Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the European Election Studies. The data that are still generated on the basis of these collaborative projects provide a most valuable source of information for the study of democracy -without it researchers would arguably not be able to adequately study the functioning of democracy -and thus form one of the most important developments in the last decades in political science. This Liber Amicorum serves to honour Jacques Thomassen for his extremely valuable contribution to the study of democracy. In his career he has collaborated with dozens of academics from many countries. They have learned to know Jacques Thomassen as a most competent and erudite scholar and a good colleague; and many enjoy the privilege of being amongst the many friends that he has made over these years. This volume is a collection of essays by some of these colleagues and friends. In planning this volume, we had to be very restrictive, and as a result many colleagues who would have liked to contribute to this book could not be taken on board. The final set of essays demonstrate the appreciation of the authors for Jacques Thomassen by bringing together in this volume some of their very best and fresh work on the theme that has been at the heart of his research agenda: the functioning of representative democracy. Together, these contributions provide the most up-to-date assessment of how democracy works in the world of today. The contributions in this volume have been created in the spi...

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The dissatisfied society: The roots of political change in Italy

Cited by 176 publications

References 11 publications

Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013

Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013

Political system, civil society and institutions in Italy: The quality of democracy

How Democracy Works : Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies

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