South Tyrol

The sixth chapter looks at another case, South Tyrol, where secessionism has remained weak. While there has not been in Italy a series of constitutional changes affecting regional autonomy, the long-time slogan of the SVP, dynamic autonomy, speaks to the nature of South Tyrol’s autonomy within the Italian state. A striking feature of the Second Autonomy Statute for South Tyrol is that its implementation took 20 years (1972–1992). During this period, which followed a decade, the 1960s, punctuated by secessionist and irredentist violence, there was virtually no reason to adopt and support secessionist positions, as autonomous measures were gradually put into place. Most crucially, the bilateral commissions tasked with the implementations of the Second Autonomy Statute continued their work after 1992, keeping South Tyrol’s autonomy on the move, adjusting it to new circumstances, and even expanding it. These two bodies, the Commission of Six and the Commission of Twelve, play central roles in the governance of both the region of Trentino-Alto Adige and the province of Bolzano/Bozen as their enactment degrees become Italian law. The fact that South Tyrol still develops its autonomy has kept secessionist forces at bay. Indeed, incentives to support independence or reintegration with Austria are virtually non-existent in a context where autonomy can be progressively adapted, fine-tuned, and even developed in a way that largely shields South Tyrol from the broader Italian politics and maximizes the prosperity of the Alpine community.

On Francesco Guicciardini’s Thought and Some of his Considerations on Machiavelli

Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540), Italian historian, politician and writer, - descendant of one of the most important and faithful families to the Medici family in Florence - received a solid humanistic education and was also the protagonist of the Italian politics in the XVIth century; during the wars between France and Spain for the domination of the peninsula, he became the fair and impartial interpreter of these events in terms of historiography. Upright and of austere character, ¬he is the author of one of the best histories of Italy, written in the spirit of the time, whose prime quality is the historical veracity. Guicciardini fed the feeling of nationality and the aspiration to independence of Italy. In his works he shows the painful efforts of the princes and heads of republics, dragged into continuous wars, trying to defend, to confederate, to seek help in various foreign powers in order to save themselves from the oppression of the rulers. His genius, intuitive and painfully prophetic, discerns the events from the things; he pronounces what he develops as ‘safe judgments’ and recommends possible remedies to save the nation.

Party-Political System Transformation in Italy

Throughout the years of the existence of the Italian Republic, the country's political system has been characterized by both periods of stability and turbulence. The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of the Italian party-political system and political landscape, macrotendencies of Italian politics from the First Republic (1948) to the present. The research highlights the main features of each period. The authors reflect on the possible emergence of the Third Republic in Italy. The study is relevant in view of the growing government crisis in the Italian Republic, aggravated by the epidemiological situation. Among the main trends that characterize the modern political system, the authors underline increasing heterogeneity, the emergence of coalitions that are formed not in accordance with political programs and political values, but with the political situation based on the principle “here and now”; tendency towards personification of parties, and increasing fragmentation of political spectrum. This gives a ground to deliberate on a possible existence in Italy of “liquid politics” (politica liquida) as a state of continuous political system “melting and overflowing” in the absence of a clear ideological delimitation ‒ one of the stages at which a new political reality is being constructed.

The Origins of Technopopulism

This chapter examines the origins of the technopopulist political logic. It does so by identifying the origins and principal contours of the ideological political logic which preceded it. It then explores the relative decline of the ideological logic and the rise of technopopulism. The technopopulist logic has superimposed itself upon the ideological logic, leading to a complex interaction between the two. The theme of the chanpter is the formation and decline of organizing interests and the complex relationship between societal change and evolutions in national political party systems. The overarching narrative is of the separation of state from society (referred to process of disintermediation) and the connection of this to technopopulism. The rise of the technopopulist political logic is associated with a number of macro-historical processes, such as secularization, cognitive mobilization, and the decline of organized interests. However, the relationship between these processes and the rise of technopopulism is shaped by nationally specific experiences. The empirical focus of the chapter is on British, French, and Italian politics, but the argument refers also to broader changes that held across national political systems in Western Europe since 1945.

At the origin of Italian Euroscepticism

The dominant narrative about the virtue of European integration is no longer the mantra of Italian politics. Alongside those parties who inherited the traditional ‘Europhile’ position, one can find parties whose support toward the EU is uncertain (like Forza Italia) or openly questioning the integration process (such as the Lega, Fratelli d’Italia and the Movimento 5 Stelle). Moreover, Euroscepticism in Italy reflects a deep change in the public opinion towards the EU: the consistent traditional supportexpressed by the Italians has of recent become more volatile and even critical. This article provides a brief look at changes in Italian positions on European integration, with a focus on the sentiments of both public opinion and the political elites, particularly after the Italy’s entry into the Eurozone in 1998.

Sui requisiti di una buona comunicazione nel libro di Kamila Miłkowska-Samul (S)cortesia e social network. Opportunità e rischi del dibattito pubblico su Facebook

On the requirements of good communication in the book by Kamila Miłkowska-Samul (S)cortesia e social network. Opportunità e rischi del dibattito pubblico su Facebook The article aims to discuss the latest book by Kamila Miłkowska-Samul, entitled (S)cortesia e social network. Opportunità e rischi del dibattito pubblico su Facebook, published in 2019. It is the second time that the author takes up the subject of the language of Italian politics, this time in a pragmalinguistic and communicative perspective. The interpretation key to which the analysis of numerous examples of politicians’ statements on Facebook was subordinated is the theory of politeness (or impoliteness). The reader will also find an in-depth study of individual theoretical component issues: concerning the language of the Internet, politics, and the already mentioned theory of politeness and related sociopragmalinguistic issues.

Le sirene del corporativismo e l'isolamento dei dissidenti durante il fascismo

The volume collects nine essays on Italian politics, economics, and law during Fascism. Some are dedicated to the ideal objectives of corporatism, aiming at the renewal of politics, institutions and culture, and the objectively dismal results of the implemented policies. Economic researches analyze the debated abolishment of the inheritance tax in the 1923, and the various policies proposed by some Italian economists to counter the disastrous effects of the Great Depression. Specific attention is also given to the problem of the development of Italy’s southern regions. An essay is further dedicated to the influence of corporatism and idealism on the mathematical economist Bruno de Finetti. In the field of law, authors investigate the long lasting features impressed by Fascism on Italian administrative law and, in general, the permanence of a typically Fascist magniloquent style in the Italian jurisdictional language. Lastly, as suggested by title of this volume, a chapter analyses the social and political thinking of Carlo Rosselli, leading anti-fascist intellectual who paid dearly for his dissent.