Government and Politics of Italy
Government and Politics of Italy

Author: Robert Leonardi

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-09-12

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1349932310

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The political history of Italy has been an undeniably turbulent one. The country's political system has been repeatedly threatened by the historical existence of extremist parties on the left and right, an economy which struggles to adapt, the cleavage between a developed north and an underdeveloped south, the challenge posed by terrorist groups and organized crime, high public debt, and governments that last on average only ten months. Paradoxically, however, Italy continues to muddle through from one political crisis to another with one of the world's highest standards of living and quality of life. What is the secret of Italian politics?

Place and Politics in Modern Italy
Place and Politics in Modern Italy

Author: John A. Agnew

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2002-10

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780226010533

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How do the places where people live help structure and restructure their sociopolitical identities and interests? In this book, renowned political geographer John A. Agnew presents a theoretical model that addresses the relation of place to politics and applies it to a series of historicogeographical case studies set in modern Italy. For Agnew, place is not just a static backdrop against which events occur, but a dynamic component of social, economic, and political processes. He shows, for instance, how the lack of a common "landscape ideal" or physical image of Italy delayed the development of a sense of nationhood among Italians after unification. And Agnew uses the post-1992 victory of the Northern League over the Christian Democrats in many parts of northern Italy to explore how parties are replaced geographically during periods of intense political change. Providing a fresh new approach to studying the role of space and place in social change, Place and Politics in Modern Italy will interest geographers, political scientists, and social theorists.

The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics
The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics

Author: Erik Jones

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 801

ISBN-13: 0199669740

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The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics provides a comprehensive look at the political life of one of Europe's most exciting and turbulent democracies. Under the hegemonic influence of Christian Democracy in the early post-World War II decades, Italy went through a period of rapid growth and political transformation. In part this resulted in tumult and a crisis of governability; however, it also gave rise to innovation in the form of Eurocommunism and new forms of political accommodation. The great strength of Italy lay in its constitution; its great weakness lay in certain legacies of the past. Organized crime--popularly but not exclusively associated with the mafia--is one example. A self-contained and well entrenched 'caste' of political and economic elites is another. These weaknesses became apparent in the breakdown of political order in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This ushered in a combination of populist political mobilization and experimentation with electoral systems design, and the result has been more evolutionary than transformative. Italian politics today is different from what it was during the immediate post-World War II period, but it still shows many of the influences of the past.

Politics of National Identity in Italy
Politics of National Identity in Italy

Author: Eva Garau

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-12-17

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1317557654

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This book focuses on the politics of national identity in Italy. Only a unified country for just over 150 years, Italian national identity is perhaps more contingent than longer established nations such as France or the UK. The book investigates when, how and why the discussions about national identity and about immigration became entwined in public discourse within Italy. In particular it looks at the most influential voices in the debate on immigration and identity, namely Italian intellectuals, the Catholic Church, the Northern League and the Left. The methodological approach is based on a systematic discourse analysis of official documents, interviews, statements and speeches by representatives of the political actors involved. In the process, the author demonstrates that a 'normalisation' of intolerance towards foreigners has become institutionalised at the heart of the Italian state. This work will be of particular interest to students of Italian Politics, Nationalism and Comparative Politics.

Making Democracy Work
Making Democracy Work

Author: Robert D. Putnam

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1994-05-27

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 140082074X

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"A classic."—New York Times "Seminal, epochal, path-breaking . . . a Democracy in America for our times."—The Nation From the bestselling author of Bowling Alone, a landmark account of the secret of successful democracies Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, acclaimed political scientist and bestselling author Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions. Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970, when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and healthcare, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity. The result is a landmark book filled with crucial insights about how to make democracy work.

The Lega Nord and the Politics of Secession in Italy
The Lega Nord and the Politics of Secession in Italy

Author: A. Bull

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2001-11-07

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1403919984

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Since the late 1980s, the Lega Nord has broken the mould of Italian politics. Federalist, secessionist, populist, it has succeeded in mobilizing the entrepreneurial class of Northern Italy in a campaign against the Italian state. In 1996, it launched the idea of Panadia, a separate Northern Italian nation. This proved to be a step too far, but the Lega remains a political force to be reckoned with, and has propelled 'the Northern question' on to the national stage.

Italy Transformed
Italy Transformed

Author: Martin Bull

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0429686277

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The decade commencing with the great crash of 2008 was a watershed period for Italian politics, involving fundamental and dramatic changes, many of which had not been anticipated and which are charted in this book. This comprehensive volume covers the impact of the Eurozone crisis on the Italian economy and its relationship with the European Union, the dramatic changes in the political parties (and particularly the rise of a new political force, the Five Star Movement, which became the largest political party in 2013), the changing role of the Trade Unions in the lives of Italian citizens, the Italian migration crisis, electoral reforms and their impact on the Italian party system (where trends towards bipolarisation appear to be exhausted), the rise of new forms of social protest, changes to political culture and social capital and, finally, amidst the crisis, reforms to the welfare state. Overall, the authors reveal a country, which many had assumed was in quiet transition towards a more stable democracy, that suffers an immense shock from the Eurozone crisis and bringing to the fore deep-rooted structural problems which have changed the dynamics of its politics, as confirmed in the outcome to the 2018 National Elections. This book was originally published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Italy
Italy

Author: Frederic Spotts

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1986-03-31

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0521304512

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Italy is the world's sixth economic power, lies in a key geopolitical position, and was a founding member of NATO and the European Community. Yet of all the major European states Italy is the least understood and studied. This book provides the only up-to-date survey of the Italian political scene during the forty years since World War II. It describes the inner-dynamics of the political parties, the day-to-day functioning of the governing institutions, and the interaction of the country's economic, social, and political life. It shows how a political system, riven with difficulties and seemingly in a continual crisis, survives and prospers - in some ways more successfully than its purportedly better-governed neighbours. Based on the authors' first-hand observations of Italian politics, the book offers a valuable insight into a subtle and complex, but fascinating political world.

Italian Politics
Italian Politics

Author: Martin J. Bull

Publisher: Polity

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0745612989

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This wide-ranging book seeks to unravel the complexities of post-1992 Italian democracy. It takes as its point of departure the dramatic political tensions of the early 1990s and evaluates these against the background of an analysis of the ‘First Republic’ that predates these changes. Martin Bull and James Newell, renowned scholars of Italian Politics, argue that the early 1990s revolution in Italian party politics should be seen both as a major cause of subsequent changes in the political system and as a consequence of longer-term, still on-going changes in the Italian polity. The books explains how we can understand in this light the mixed success of the parties in attempting to act as autonomous vehicles of reform – and therefore why, if we are witnessing a transformation to a ‘Second Republic’, many of its key features still remain to be shaped. Each of the thematic chapters clearly juxtaposes Italy as it was before the 1990s with Italy today, thereby evaluating the degree to which the early 1990s can be seen as a watershed. In this way the book offers a novel account of both contemporary political developments and their historical significance in teh context of the ‘Italian political model’ that took shape in the period after 1945. This will be essential reading for all students of Italian and Comparative Politics, who will find the clarity and breadth of the book invaluable. Equally, scholars will be fascinated by this new and compelling argument.

Interest Groups in Italian Politics
Interest Groups in Italian Politics

Author: Joseph La Palombara

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-12-08

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 1400877830

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The author examines both structurally and functionally the General Confederation of Italian Industry, Italian Catholic Action, the Christian Democrats, the Italian Liberal Party, the monarchist Italian Republican Party, the neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement, and many more interest groups. The book is based on several years of field research in Italy, including interviews with scores of political figures, bureaucrats, and interest group leaders. Originally published in 1964. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.