Quaderno 79, 1, 2018/ Volume 79, Issue 1 (June), 2018
ISSN 0392 - 6753
Le elezioni comunali di Parma (2012-2017): L'effetto Pizzarotti / Parma Municipal Elections 2012-2017: The Pizzarotti Effect - Mara Morini (University of Genoa)
The article describes the political evolution of the Italian Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle - M5S) at the local level (2009-2012) with a specific reference to the «Italian Stalingrad» i.e. the city of Parma. In the administrative elections held in 2012 the M5S was able to get its first Major, Federico Pizzarotti, who was unexpectedly elected in the second round defeating the center left coalition. Born as a local and civic experience in the so called Meetup (local party meetings), the M5S of Parma is an example of «overpromising populism» (Mény & Surel 2000) accused by Beppe Grillo (the central office) of a compromise-collusion made by Pizzarotti with the «old» power (traditional parties). Firstly, a short overview of the local evolution of M5S is given in order to better understand its level of local penetration and representation between 2009-2014. Secondly, the analysis of the 2012-2017 electoral campaigns will be described taken into consideration the political characteristics of all the competitors and the main determinants of Pizzarotti's two electoral success. Thirdly, some hypothesesabout the future of the «Effetto Parma» civic party and Pizzarotti's leadership at the local and national level will be provided.
Selecting the labour leader: from the electoral college to closed primaries - Giulia Vicentini (SNS Florence)
The article aims at assessing the functioning and characteristics of the most recent systems employed by the British Labour Party for selecting its leader. To this end I compared five leadership races: the huge success of Tony Blair in 1994 in the newly reformed electoral college system; the undisputed election of Gordon Brown in 2007; the narrow and disputed victory of Ed Miliband in 2010, still held under the electoral college system; the large but controversial successes of Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 and 2016 closed primaries. The article first traces the evolution of the Labour leadership election systems in recent decades. Secondly, the five leadership races are analyzed and compared, taking into account two main variables: inclusiveness and divisiveness. These have been addressed looking at indicators such as selectorate and candidacy inclusiveness, campaign negativity, race competitiveness and elite attitude, which transversally affects all the other dimensions. The findings suggest that intra-party democracy may be dangerous for party unity and electability but the political context remains much more important than the intrinsic characteristics of the system of leadership selection used.
The Israeli electoral state of mind: security, discourse and leadership as components of 2015 elections - Alon Helled (University of Turin and University of Florence)
The 2015 Israeli general elections provide rare intellectual stimuli to trace and characterize some of the larger sociopolitical stances in Israeli society. Since Israeli politics has undergone many changes over the last decades, a focus on electoral moment unpacks the issues and general perception regarding geopolitics (i.e. the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) and the domestic health of the country (i.e. sociopolitical reforms and policy-developments). This paper aims at analyzing the three main dimensions, which were emphasized during the electoral campaign and the turnout, while it connects them with what we may refer to as the Israeli political "state of mind".
Le elezioni nel mondo / Elections in the World - (Stefano Rombi, University of Cagliari)
Le elezioni in Italia / Elections in Italy - (Nicola Maggini and Matteo Cataldi, CISE)