Quaderno 77, 1 (giugno), 2017 / Volume 77, Issue 1 (June), 2017
Britain: Divorced from the EU and Disunited at Home? The 2016 Brexit referendum and its consequences - Roland Sturm (Univ. Erlangen)
The Brexit referendum brought the regional and social divisions of the UK in the open. It put unresolved constitutional questions on the agenda and had a deep impact on the British party system. The referendum campaign provided room for protest, fake news and scare mongering. In electoral terms, the referendum gave a voice to the left-behinds. It is open to question whether the high hopes the Brexiteers created for a newly "independent" Britain will find support in the development of the country's external relations, but also with regard to the unity of the UK.
Le elezioni comunali del 2016: quando il territorio vince e i partiti perdono / 2016 Municipal Elections: when the territory wins and parties lose - Terenzio Fava (Univ. Urbino Carlo Bo)
Local elections held on June 2016 in Italy asked voters to appoint more than 1,300 among mayors and municipal councilors, some of them in big cities like Rome, Milan, Turin. This article aims at assessing who is the real winner of this election. At first sight, the Five Stars Movement won this election. Nevertheless, some doubts arise because of its limited coverage of the territories, internal conflicts and the lack of homogeneity of its electoral results at the local level. Among the losers, Forza Italia and minor parties like NCD and extreme-left parties are to be counted, while the Northern League secured its previous elections' percentage. The Democratic Party reported huge losses but remained the leading party in half of the voting municipalities. A more in-depth analysis shows however that local lists (civic lists) strongly improved their results and voters' support. From this perspective it is the territory that won 2016 local election. The article claims that this may negatively affect the national political system and political establishment. Civic lists bring in fact together different political actors (such as notabilities, patrons and relevant clienteles) with populist local movements, and often show weak political capabilities in local government.
Nuovi orientamenti di voto nella cultura civica orfana del PCI: il M5S e/o l'astensione / New electoral behaviors within a PCI-orphaned civic culture: at the origins of the Five Stars Movement - Graziano Marrone (Univ. Pavia and Univ. Urbino) - Errata corrige [file .PDF]
In the last decade Italian political scene has been marked by the presence of a new actor: the Five Stars Movement (M5S). Many observers paid particular attention upon the populist rhetoric of its leader, Beppe Grillo, interpreting this new political actor as a leader party model. However, the emphasis upon these aspects may prevent the analysis of some crucial social and political dynamics that can be instead better understood by employing some classic theories and concepts of political science. The roots of M5S are embedded in the territories with a strong communist tradition (red zone), in the period of nationalization of the Democratic Party: this process shows the strength of local political culture. Currently left-wing parties seem no longer able to represent such civic culture and the local political culture requires new referents. In this article we argue that M5S has been seen, up to the 2014 elections, as a way to bring politics back in the territory. The 2016 municipal elections seem instead to show that Movement's local vocation has been an illusion.
Le elezioni nel mondo / Elections in the World - Stefano Rombi
Le elezioni in Italia / Elections in Italy - Aldo Paparo (CISE)