Italian Politics Specialist Group

Italian Politics @ PSA 2012

2012-01-20T01:38:00.000-08:00

The Group will sponsor a number of panels at the PSA annual conference. In 2012, the panels are to be as follows:

‘Long-lost brothers? Italy and the UK in comparative perspective’

"Development here and there: utopia or real chance? Comparative research on Ghanaian migrants’ associations in Italy and in the UK"
Francesco Marini: "Italy and the UK: Lost Brothers or Fruitful Friends? The cases of the Democratic and Labour Party Primaries – Notes for mutual lessons"
Mara Morini and Antonella Seddone: "Britain and Italy in the 1980s: Anti-political or post-political age? Intellectual discourses in comparative perspective"
Marzia Maccaferri

Italian Politics @ PSA 2011

2011-01-30T03:50:00.000-08:00

The Italian Politics Specialist Group is involved in a wide series of events at the 2011 PSA Conference in London from 19-21 April.

Oscar Mazzoleni and Duncan McDonnell, in conjunction with the Local Politics Specialist Group, have organized panels on ‘New Local Politics: Parties, Mayors and Councillors in Comparative Perspective’.

James Newell has organized panels on ‘The Italian presidency in the post-war political system’ and ‘The election of 2008 and the Italian political system: Quo vadis?’.

Maurizio Carbone has organized a panel on ‘Italy in the International Arena: Inclusion, Credibility, Reforms’ and a roundtable on Roundtable: Italy in the Post-Cold War Order: Adaptation, Bipartisanship and Visibility’

Details of all conference panels can be found at the PSA conference website

Those planning to attend the conference should register by 20 February 2011.

The Italian Political System 150 Years On: The Risorgimento's Relevance Today

2010-09-26T02:21:00.000-07:00

CALL FOR PAPERS: CONFERENCE GROUP ON ITALIAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY (CONGRIPS), 107TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLTIICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION (APSA), SAN FRANCISCO, 1-4 SEPTEMBER 2011

In order to mark the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, papers are invited which seek to throw light on the significance of Unification itself for an understanding of the nature of Italian politics and/or society today. In principle, such a task could be approached from a number of different angles including:

asking about the extent to which problems that stood in the way of effective unification - for example, the north-south divide; the role of the Church in Italian politics; the weakness of the state; the presence of organised crime in some parts of the South - remain significant today. How much progress has been made in resolving such problems over the past 150 years? What kind of progress? Progress (or the lack of it) thanks to what?

asking about the creation of Italian national identity. Massimo d'Azeglio's famous phrase was, 'We have made Italy, now we have to make Italians'. To what extent has the task been completed? What obstacles remain? In what does Italian national identity consist today? Every country is 'exceptional', 'abnormal' or 'anomalous' in one respect or another. So: what are the differentiae specificae of 'Italian-ness' today? What challenges does it face (e.g. from immigration)?

asking about the extent to which the most significant issues surrounding Italian democracy today can be understood in light of the circumstances surrounding Unification. One thinks here of issues such as the lack of full legitimacy accorded to each other by the two main coalitions, or the lack of complete political (as opposed to formal and procedural) legitimacy accorded by all of the main forces to the 1948 constitution. Are these issues of merely recent origin, or do they have deeper roots?

In short, papers are invited which in one way or another, from a general perspective or the perspective of a specific issue, contribute to a stock-taking of the problems and achievements of the Italian political system 150 years after it came into being.

The theme of the 107th annual meeting is 'The Politics of Rights'. The notion of rights has no meaning outside of the context of polities that recognise them and whose institutions uphold them. By shedding light on the nature of the Italian polity 150 years after it came into existence, papers presented to the panel will contribute to the task of illuminating the politics of rights in a major European country - thereby helping to illuminate the context and implications of such politics, domestically, comparatively and internationally.

Paper proposals should be submitted online through the MyAPSA system at http://www.apsanet.org/ by 15 December 2010

Queries can be sent to the CONGRIPS Program Committee Chair, Jim Newell.

For more information about the conference please visit the APSA website.

The Italian presidency in the post-war political system: call for papers.

2010-09-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

UK Political Studies Association 61st Annual Conference, London, 19-21 April 2011

Italian presidents play a generally low-profile, but crucially important, role in the country's political system, responsible as they are for mediating and regulating with the aim of ensuring that political processes are carried on without threatening national integration. This importance appears to be reflected in the results of surveys which regularly show much higher levels of public confidence in the presidency than in the country's other institutions. Essential though the role is, however, relative to institutions such as Parliament, the judiciary or the regions (for example) the presidency has not been the object of much detailed analysis. With the passing of possibly the most controversial of Italy's post-war heads of state, President Francesco Cossiga, the time has come to rectify this.

Thanks to the lack of detailed specifications in the Italian constitution, and, to the great benefit of peaceful governance, the President's significance and capacity for autonomous action varies depending on the specific circumstances. This raises a large number of potential questions for analysis. How has the role of the presidency changed over the post-war period? To what extent have the office and its incumbents influenced the events and processes of political change that have underlain the so-called transition from first to second republics in recent years? What are the limits on presidential powers and to what extent have these been influenced by the characteristics and the actions of the specific individuals who have held the post? Why has reform of the presidency been an issue on the agenda of Italian politics in recent years? How does the role of the presidency compare with the role of heads of state in other liberal democracies? In short, how significant is the presidency for the Italian political system and for our understanding of the role of heads of state in democracies in general?

Offers of papers exploring any of these or related issues are welcome.

Paper abstracts (circa 250 words) should be e-mailed, by 22 September at the very latest, to me, Jim Newell (j.l.newell@salford.ac.uk)

For more information visit the conference website at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/2011/ http://www.psa.ac.uk/2011/

PSA 2011 Call for Papers

2010-09-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

New Local Politics: Parties, Mayors and Councillors in Western Europe

Panel co-sponsored by the Italian Politics and Local Politics Specialist Groups of the PSA

Convenors: Oscar Mazzoleni (Lausanne) and Duncan McDonnell (Birmingham/Torino)

Deadline for paper proposals: 17 September 2010

Party change and crisis has been a key theme for political science in recent decades, in particular as regards the capacity of Western European parties to adapt to a series of new structural challenges. One of the less explored of these challenges is that posed by the introduction of direct election for mayors, the strengthening of local executives and the weakening of council chambers. With the focus on single personalities rather than parties during campaigns and greater (at least formal) independence for mayors and their executives, party elites and representatives at local level have had to contend with a new set of structures and opportunities influencing not only their relationship with local government, but also with local party members and voters. The aim of this panel therefore is to consider these issues by looking, in particular, at the following inter-related questions:

· In those contexts where directly-elected mayors have been introduced in recent decades, what effects has this had on the relationships between parties and candidates/mayors?

· What effects has the strengthening of local executives had on relationships between parties and mayors/executives?

· What effects have all the above had on the role of local councillors?

· What effects have the changes in local politics had on party organizations and memberships at grassroots level?

· What effects have the changes in local politics had on party campaigning, candidate selection and funding?

· How do relationships between parties, councillors and mayors function in those countries which have had directly-elected mayors and more independent executives for many decades? How are the roles and actions of parties at local level different?

We welcome papers on single city/party case-studies and those which adopt comparative national/cross-national/cross-party perspectives. Preference however will be given to those papers which are based on original empirical research.

Those wishing to participate should send their paper title, affiliation and contact details along with an abstract of no more than 200 words by 17 September 2010 to oscar.mazzoleni@unil.ch and duncan.mcdonnell@unito.it.

For more information, please visit the conference website at http://www.psa.ac.uk/2011/.

PSA 2010

2010-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

The Italian Politics Specialist Group is involved in a wide series of events at the 2010 PSA Conference in Edinburgh from 30 March - 1 April.

(1) Duncan McDonnell and James Newell have organized an eight-panel workshop on the theme ‘Party leadership in Western Europe: Strictly Personal?’

This workshop has won £2000 of funds from the PSA Guest Speaker Fund for three guest speakers: Hanspeter Kriesi, Senator Giorgio Tonini and Luca Verzichelli.

Other presenters include Daniele Albertazzi, Mauro Barisione, Donatella Campus, Giovanna Cosenza, Fabrizio Di Mascio, Frazer Duncan, Sciltian Gastaldi, Christian Kolmer, Marco Lisi, Claudia Mariotti, Oscar Mazzoleni, Duncan McDonnell, Darragh Mulcahy, James Newell, Lea Prijon, Cinzia Padovani, Josep Mª Reniu, Lorenzo Santoro,

Antonella Seddone, Georges Tassiopoulos, Matevz Tomsic, Andrea Ungari, Federico Viotti

(2) Daniele Albertazzi, Umut Korkut and James Newell have organized three panels on the ‘Morality, political scandals and the detachment of citizens from the political process’. Speakers include Francesco Amoretti, Hélène Bilger-Street, Cristopher Cepernich, Diego Garzia, Umut Korkut, James Newell, Pietro Pirani, Franca Roncarolo, Cristian Vaccari and James Walston.

(3) Maurizio Carbone has organized a panel on "Italian foreign policy since the end

of the Cold War" with papers by Giovanni Adornino, Maurizio Carbone, Lorenzo Cladi and Luca Ratti.

The Conference homepage is http://www.psa.ac.uk/2010/

Those planning to attend the conference should register by 14 February. See here for details.

Call for papers: The Politics of Sexuality in Contemporary Italy

2009-10-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Guest Editors: Isabel Crowhurst (Birkbeck, University of London), Giovanni Porfido (University of Birmingham), and Chiara Bertone (Università del Piemonte Orientale).

The aim of this special issue is to discuss the politics of sexuality in contemporary Italian cultural and social life. The analysis of how sexuality may articulate citizenship, social inclusion/exclusion, belonging and participation, racial, class and gender relations (Lister 2007, Bell and Binnie 2000, Weeks 1998; Seidman 1997; Rubin 1982) is still a relatively under-researched area of study in the Italian context. Nevertheless, recent heated debates and troubling events in Italian public life, including the increase in homophobic violence, disputes over same-sex partnerships and a new prostitution law, suggest that a rigorous critical engagement with these issues is much needed.

Key questions to be explored include: Which sexualities are constructed and treated as privileged and which are minoritized or/and stigmatized? What accounts for these distinctions (sexual orientation, ‘race’, ethnicity, disability, gender)? How/Do these differentiations map out onto policies and social practices? What are the tensions between and within dominant normative sexualities and minoritized ones?

Potential contributions might address the following issues and topics: sexuality and ‘the family’; heterosexual normativity; social and legal recognition of same-sex relationships; the regulation of sexual practices; reproductive rights; transgender recognition; sex work and prostitution; sexuality and politics; sexuality and religion; sexuality and migration; sexuality and the constructions of ‘the nation’; sexual rights; sexuality and the welfare agenda.

The editors of Modern Italy have expressed a strong interest in dedicating the early 2013 issue of the journal to this theme. We therefore invite proposals for high-quality interdisciplinary articles from different theoretical and methodological approaches exploring the proposed theme, with a view to further developing an understanding of sexual policies, politics and practices in contemporary Italy.

Expressions of interest in the form of 400-500 word abstracts and a brief CV should be sent to the guest-editors: i.crowhurst@bbk.ac.uk; g.porfido@bham.ac.uk and chiara.bertone@sp.unipmn.it by 15th January 2010. We plan to notify authors whether their abstracts have been accepted by early February 2010. To discuss ideas for submission in advance, or for further questions, please send an email to: i.crowhurst@bbk.ac.uk

CONGRIPS call for papers

2009-10-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

CONFERENCE GROUP ON ITALIAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY (CONGRIPS), 106TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLTIICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION (APSA), WASHINGTON DC, 3-6 SEPTEMBER 2010

Title: The 2008 Election and the Italian Political System: Quo Vadis?

The outcome of the 2008 general election seems to have represented something of a watershed in Italian politics. Most obviously, it brought the landslide victory of Silvio Berlusconi, making him one of Europe's most successful politicians of recent decades and giving him a position of seeming hegemony in Italian politics. Concomitantly, it brought the failure of the centre left and of Veltroni's project for a single party capable on its own of offering a credible alternative to the current incumbents. Third, in bringing an unprecedented concentration of seats on a small number of parties, one led by a prime minister whose control of it was unassailable, the election brought to office a government that looked set to be the strongest in the history of the Italian republic.

The election prompts two major questions. First, it seems reasonable to think that all else equal outcomes with the foregoing characteristics will bring radical changes in the characteristics of governance. In particular, strong government ought to be self-reinforcing owing to the opportunities it provides for 'permanent campaigning' - using support mobilization as a key resource for governing, while using governing as an instrument to build and sustain support. And it ought therefore to be accompanied by improvement in the actual efficiency and effectiveness of policy outputs and processes of policy making. The second question concerns the great pessimism which this state of affairs reinforces - and has reinforced - for the prospects of the centre left returning to office at any time in the near future. On the one hand, the failure of the 2008 'go-it-alone' approach makes it difficult to envisage any realistic way forward without some kind of alliance strategy. On the other hand, the parties concerned remain as divided and litigious as ever. So in order to assess the significance of the general election of 2008 and thus the current 'state of play' of Italian politics, papers are sought that are relevant to either of these two broad themes. Has the election brought a sea-change in the quality of government in Italy and if so why; if not, why not? What is the current state of the forces of opposition to the centre right and what are their prospects?

Papers can either focus on some particular area of policy making, political actor or aspect of the political system; or they can take a broader focus, considering, for example, the Government or the centre-left in their entirety. What is important is that the papers bring out clearly the bearing of what they have to say on one or both of the aforementioned themes.

Paper abstracts (circa 250 words) should be e-mailed by 30 November 2009 to: the CONGRIPS Program Committee Chair, Jim Newell (j.l.newell@salford.ac.uk).

Fellowship in Italian studies

2009-08-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

The Collegio Carlo Alberto in Moncalieri (Torino), and a network of Italian Universities and research centers, are inviting applications to a minimum of five "Visiting Fellowships in Italian Studies". The broad area of interest of the fellowships include political science, international relations, public policy, comparative politics, sociology, anthropology, European studies and Italian contemporary history. The goal of the program is to stimulate interest in Italy and in Italian affairs among the American scientific and policy-analysis communities. It is aimed at both established scholars and PhD Students, who will be able to work at the Collegio in close collaboration with a network of participating institutions: Aspen Italia, Istituto Affari Internazionali, the Universities of Catania, Firenze, Milano (Cattolica), Milano (Statale), Parma, Roma Tre, Siena, Torino and Trento.

Full details can be found at http://www.carloalberto.org/italianstudies

Call for Papers: PSA 60th Anniversary Conference, Edinburgh, 29 March – 1 April 2010

2009-07-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

Title: Party leadership in Western Europe: Strictly Personal?

Convenors: Duncan McDonnell (Turin) and James Newell (Salford)

The Italian Politics Specialist Group and the French Politics and Policy Specialist Group of the Political Studies Association envisage sponsoring a workshop on the above topic at the Association’s annual conference to be held in Edinburgh in March/April 2010.

For several years there has in most western European democracies been a growing ‘personalization’ of political leadership as a result of well-known processes of change having to do with

the role of the mass media in rendering the lives of the individuals who walk on the public stage ‘much more visible than they ever were in the past’ (Thompson, 2000: 6) and allowing politicians to present themselves not just as leaders, but as ‘one of us’;
the switch from ‘party-’ to ‘candidate-centred’ campaigning – declining ideological conflict having shifted attention from position to valence issues and thus to candidates’ competence; television and other electronic media, by allowing candidates to appeal directly to voters, having diminished the requirement for good party organisation and thus the attention to party itself in campaigns;
the role of declining ideological conflict in shifting the political battleground to the terrain of morality – with parties increasingly attempting to compete by fomenting scandal – and thus a growing focus on matters of personal integrity.
the rise of ‘personal parties’ (Calise, 2000), founded (or re-launched) and led by individuals, with political communication strategies being almost entirely focussed on these leaders.

But while the causes and concomitants of personal leadership have been much explored, much less attention has been paid to its possible effects in terms of the significance of individual leaders. Consequently, fundamental questions remain unanswered – not least the question of whether the heightened focus – in political competition – on leaders and their personal qualities has been accompanied by any growth in their actual power. This raises a range of closely related questions, such as: If their power has increased, to what extent, in seeking to understand political processes and processes of political change, must we now pay greater attention than we once did to matters of political agency as compared to matters of structure? What are the factors that account for the emergence and growth of unusually powerful party leaders? That is, what are the factors that obstruct and enhance their efforts to act as significant agents of change?

We invite papers exploring, from a single-country or a cross-national perspective, any of these themes. We are especially interested in studies of personal party leadership which could shed light on the Italian experience and the extent to which the role of an unusually powerful leader like Silvio Berlusconi represents a uniquely Italian phenomenon as opposed to being merely a rather extreme example of a more widespread, cross-national phenomenon. However, papers that explore the foregoing themes by drawing on alternative comparisons in Western Europe are equally welcome.

Paper abstracts (circa 250 words) should be e-mailed by 1 September to: Duncan McDonnell (duncanmcdonnell@yahoo.com) and Jim Newell (j.l.newell@salford.ac.uk)

For more information, please visit the conference website at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/2010/

Title: Morality, political scandals and the detachment of citizens from the political process

Convenors: Daniele Albertazzi (Birmingham), James Newell (Salford) and Umut Korkut (University College, Dublin)

Since the early 1990s in many democracies there have been growing levels of public concer n – fuelled partly by high-profile scandals – about the standards of conduct of public office-holders. This is no better exemplified than by the scandal surrounding MPs’ expenses in the UK, the recent allegations concerning the conduct of Silvio Berlusconi in the area of personal morality in Italy or the mayhem in Budapest in 2006 after the leaking of a secret speech by Gyurcsány delivered to his party delegates. Of course, these affairs are very different in many respects and timing. What they have in common is that they have ultimately been driven by the perception that the alleged wrong-doing has cheapened the democratic process, resulting in more or less significant losses of authority for the political actors involved. Against this background, important for an understanding of contemporary democratic processes and their quality is knowledge of the role of political scandals and public concerns about probity in the growth of anti-political sentiments, declining turnouts and other manifestations of citizens’ detachment from the political process. Comparisons in particular between Eastern and Western Europe would seem to have much to offer: while they have shown the aforementioned signs of citizens’ detachment, scandals and public concerns seem to play different roles in each case: for example, though the issues at stake in the British MPs’ expenses row and Berlusconi scandals have had much in common, their consequences in terms of voting behaviour and parties’ electoral fortunes have so far been rather different. And in Hungary, a leaked speech can even raise doubts about the legitimacy of an elected government.

We invite offers of papers that draw on East and West European cases or both to explore any aspect of the relationship between citizens’ political engagement on the one hand, and scandals and concerns about probity, on the other – bearing in mind that the relationship between the two almost certainly goes in both directions and is very likely to be reciprocal. Papers might have a very specific focus, such as this or that election outcome, or they might be much broader, ‘think pieces’. What is important is that they should point to at least some conclusions generally relevant for our main variables of concern.

Paper abstracts (circa 250 words) should be e-mailed by 1 September to: Daniele Albertazzi (d.albertazzi@bham.ac.uk), Jim Newell (j.l.newell@salford.ac.uk), Umut Korkut (umut.korkut@ucd.ie).

For more information, please visit the conference website at: http://www.psa.ac.uk/2010/

Group members participating at SISP

2009-07-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

The Italian Political Science Association, SISP, is holding its annual meeting in Rome between the 17th and 19th September 2009. Two panels in particular will feature members of the specialist group:

4.3 Populism in Italy: Historical, Contemporary and Comparative Perspectives: Chaired by Daniele Albertazzi and Duncan McDonnell
4.4 I partiti del centro-sinistra: Unioni, Matrimoni e Divorzi: Chaired by Duncan McDonnell, with James Newell, Mark Donovan, Mario Caciagli, Mauro Barisione and Franca Roncarolo participating

ASMI Postgraduate Conference

2009-04-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh
Friday 3 July 2009

Proposals are now invited from postgraduate students for presentations on any aspect of Italian history, politics, culture (excluding literature) or society from the late eighteenth century to the twenty-first century.

ASMI Postgraduate Conference

Bulletin of Italian Politics to launch

2009-04-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Bulletin of Italian Politics (BIP) provides a forum for discussion of recent developments in Italian politics and their domestic and international implications. Offering pieces more analytically incisive than newspaper articles but with a greater focus on the most recent events than academic journal articles the journal is designed to meet the needs of academics, journalists and policy-makers.

See the flier with details on the inaugural issue.

Selected publications from 2008

2009-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

The following are some recent publications by group members.

by Tom Behan

T. Behan, Defiance: The Untold Story of One Man Who Stood Up To The Sicilian Mafia, I.B. Tauris, London, 2008, pp214
T. Behan, See Naples and Die. The Camorra & Organised Crime, I.B. Tauris, London, 2009 [2nd ed.]

by Mark Donovan

M. Donovan and P. Onofri (eds), Politica in Italia. I fatti dell'anno e le interpretazioni (2008), Il Mulino, 2008
M. Donovan and P. Onofri (eds), Italian Politics. Frustrated Ambitions for Change, Berghahn, forthcoming.

by Carl Levy

C. Levy, "`Sovversivismo': The Radical Political Culture of Otherness in Liberal Italy", Journal of Political Ideologies, Vol 123,No. 2, 2007, pp. 147-161
C. Levy, "The Anarchist Assassin in Italian History, 1870s-1930s", in S. Gundle and L. Rinaldi (eds.), Assassination and Murder in Modern Italy. Transformations in Society and Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, New York and London, 2007, pp, 207-232, ISBN 13: 978-1-4039-8391-6.
C. Levy, L’État fasciste, antisémitisme et la Shoah: les grands courants historiographiques’, Revue de la Shoah, no. 189, July-December, 2008, pp. 497-510

by Bruno Mascitelli and Simone Battiston

Mascitelli, B and Battiston, S., The Italian expatriate vote: democratic right, democratic wrong or political opportunism? Ballan, Vic, Connor Court Publishing, 2008.
Battiston, S and Mascitelli, B., 'Full voting rights for Italian citizens overseas : citizenship gone global, Italianness or Italian party politics?' in Bronitt, S and Rubenstein, K (eds) Citizenship in a post-national world - Australia and Europe compared, The Federation Press, Annandale, NSW, 2008, pp. 1-23.
Battiston, S and Mascitelli, B 'The challenges to democracy and citizenship surrounding the vote to Italians overseas', Modern Italy, Vol. 13, no. 3, 2008, pp. 261-280.

by Gianfranco Pasquino

Pasquino, G. "Pourquoi il n'y a pas de social-démocratie en Italie", in Pôle Sud. Revue de science politique de l'Europe méridionale, n. 27/2, pp. 143-157
Pasquino, G. "Populism and Democracy", in D. Albertazzi e D.McDonnell (eds), Twenty-First Century Populism. The Spectre of Western European Democracy, London,-New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, pp. 15-29.
Pasquino, G. Review of Roberto Gritti e Mario Porcellini (a cura di), Elezioni senza precedenti. Dalle Primarie dell'Unione alle Politiche e al Referendum Costituzionale del 2006: voto, sistemi elettorali e comunicazione, Franco Angeli 2007, in Polis. Ricerche e Studi su Società e Politica in Italia, vol. XXI, Aprile 2008, pp. 158-160
Pasquino, G. "Gli anni del piombo rosso", in La Rivista dei Libri, vol. XVIII, n. 5, maggio 2008, pp. 8-10
Pasquino, G. "The Political Context", in J.L. Newell (ed.), The Italian general election of 2006, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2008, pp. 15-32
Pasquino, G. "Making sense of recent Italian politics", in Journal of Modern Italian Studies, vol. 13, n.2, June 2008, pp. 259-264.
Pasquino, G. "Italy: The Never- ending Transition of a Democratic Regime", in J. Colomer, ed, Comparative European Politics, London, Routledge, 2008, pp. 135-173
Pasquino, G. "Le dinamiche della transizione italiana", in Futuribili, III Quadrimestre 2008, pp. 173-188.
Pasquino, G. "The 2008 Italian National Elections: Berlusconi's Third Victory", in South European Society and Politics, vol. 13, n. 3, September 2008, pp. 345-362.
Pasquino, G. "L'immaginario di sinistra", in Paradoxa, luglio/settembre 2008, pp. 22-29.
Pasquino, G. "Democratisation and De-democratisation in Italy", in Democratisation and De-democratisation in Europe?, Vienna, Karl Renner Institut-StudienVerlag, 2008, pp. 65-85
Pasquino, G. "Berlusconi IV", in La Rivista dei Libri", vol. XVIII, n. 11, novembre 2008, pp. 4-6.

Annual PSA meeting in Swansea

2008-05-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

The following papers were presented at the annual PSA conference in Swansea.

In the panel on Southern European Exceptionalism and Italy (63):

Gallo, Ernesto, "From Southern European to Italian exceptionalism?"
Mastropaolo, Alfio, and McDonnell, Duncan, "Southern European Exceptionalism: different sides of the debate"
Pasquino, Gianfranco, and Valbruzzi, Marco, "Still an Outlier: Italy in a Southern European Comparative Perspective"

In the panel on Democracy in Southern Europe and Institutional Adaptation (65)

Casal Bertoa, Fernando, "Party System Institutionalisation in New Democracies: Lessons from Southern Europe"
Charamboulous, Giorgos, "Rifondazione and Europe: A party competition analysis"
Stolfi, Francesco, "The Impact of Electoral Systems on the Structure of the Executive: How Electoral Reform Strengthened the Italian Prime Minister"
Cento Bull, Anna, "The Italian transition and national reconciliation"

"Party Leaders and the Media" - call for papers

2007-09-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference, 1 - 3 April 2008

The Media and Politics Specialist Group and the Italian Politics Specialist Group of the PSA are seeking to organise panels on "Party leaders and the Media":

The ability of political parties to select charismatic, media-savvy leaders is often crucial to electoral success. Scholars have debated the increasing tabloidisation of media outlets, which in turn means that attention-seeking, spectacular initiatives and the use of unorthodox language all enjoy prominence in the media and manage to capture public attention. The process is exacerbated by (and possibly contributes to) the simultaneous, and increasing, disaffection towards traditional party politics shown by large sections of the electorate.

These panels discuss how the media affects key-words, strategies of communication and language employed by political leaders, i.e. what has the media done to leadership. While we are interested in the discussion of single country case-studies, comparative papers will be particularly welcome.

Proposals, in the region of 200 words, should be sent, by 21 September, to Daniele Albertazzi, d.albertazzi@bham.ac.uk.

Call for papers on southern European politics

2007-09-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference, 1 - 3 April 2008

CALL FOR PAPERS

A major theme in comparative European politics in recent years has been the decline of southern European 'exceptionalism' - the theme that various similarities that differentiated the southern European countries from their northern European counterparts have progressively disappeared or at least become considerably less pronounced. In order to explore this thesis (and expecially the factors that may be responsible for it and the sectors in which it does, and does not hold up), the Greek Politics Specialist Group and the Italian Politics Specialist Group are seeking to organise a panel or panels on the theme of southern European politics. Papers focussing on any of the following topics will especially welcome:

Security and/or foreign policy

Public administration and/or the welfare state

Party and electoral politics

Papers may have a case-study focus, and thus focus on one southern European country, or else they may focus on more than one country.

Proposals, in the region of 200 words, should be sent, by 21 September, to Dimitris Tsarouhas, Antonios Aggelakis and James Newell

Papers presented at the Bath PSA conference (#1)

2007-04-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here just some of the papers presented at the recent annual PSA conference in Bath. More papers to follow...

National identity and immigration: the case of Italy
Croci, Osvaldo, The Prodi government one year on: A new foreign policy or the same wrapped up differently?
Fella, Stefano, and Bigot, Giulia, Immigration and Nationality reform under the second Prodi government - the Amato reform on citizenship.
Conti, Nicolo, Stay In Or Stay Out? The role of small parties in the Italian centre left.
Floridia, Antonio, The paradoxes of possible electoral reforms.
Roncarolo, Franca, The weak consent. Strategies of communication and styles of government in the second Prodi government.

Group ABM in Bath

2007-04-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

The annual Business Meeting of the UK Political Studies Association's (PSA's) Italian Politics Specialist Group will take place at the PSA annual conference in Bath on 12 April.

Time 13:00
Venue: room 8W2.8

We look forward to meeting those of you who will be at the PSA this year. Any items to be placed on the ABM Agenda should be emailed, by this Friday (6th) to Jim Newell.

In addition, if you have not yet replied to the earlier invitation to be present at the Specialist Group's annual dinner and you would like a place reserving for you, again, Jim would appreciate hearing from you by Friday. The dinner will take place on 11 April at 20:00, at Same Same But Diferent, 7a Princes Buildings (off George Street).

XI Convegno SISP: Catania, 20-22 September 2007

2007-02-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Il prossimo Convegno SISP si terrà a Catania dal 20 al 22 settembre 2007. Sul sito web della SISP, nella pagina di presentazione del Congresso annuale, ci sono le linee guida con l'indicazione di tutte le prossime scadenze. Anche il programma preliminare del Congresso è in rete.
Entro il 31 gennaio 2007 si possono presentare proposte di Sezioni Tematiche di panels. Ogni sezione è organizzata da un coordinatore che riceve e seleziona le proposte di panels. Le proposte di sezione tematica devono essere inviate via e-mail alla Segreteria SISP e contenere il nome del coordinatore, una breve descrizione del tema ed ogni informazione utile a valutarne la rilevanza. Il coordinatore deve avere un'esperienza ampia e riconosciuta nell'area tematica proposta. Deve, inoltre, accettare di svolgere la sua funzione secondo le linee guida definite nella Presentazione del Congresso.

Recently published (Jan. 2007)

2007-02-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

Allum, F. (2006): Camorristi, Politicians and Businessmen, Organized Crime in post-war Naples. Northern Universities Press.
Giannetti, D. and Elisabetta De Giorni (2006): “The 2006 Italian general elections: issues, dimensions and policy positions of political parties”. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Volume 11(4).
Newell, J.L (2006): “The Italian election of May 2006: Myths and realities”. West European Politics, Volume 29(4).
Pappalardo, A. (2006): “Italian bipolarism and the elections of 2006. End of the line or just a connecting stop?” Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Volume 11(4).
Pasquino, G. (2006): “The Italian political system after the 9 – 10 April 2006 elections”. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Volume 11(4).

Papers presented at PSA conference in Leicester, 2003

2007-02-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

The following papers on Italian politics were presented at the PSA's Annual Conference, held in Leicester between the 15th and 17th April 2003.

Decentralisation Reforms in France and Italy
(panel organised in conjunction with the French Politics Specialist Group)

Chair: Robert Elgie (Dublin City)
Discussant: Charlie Jeffery (Birmingham)

Alistair Cole (Cardiff): “Decentralisation in France: Back to Grass Roots or Steering at a Distance”.
Paul Furlong (Cardiff): “The Constitutional Context of Reform in Italy”
Susan Milner (Bath): “Urban governance and local democracy, a case study of Lille”

Italian Politics I: Party Politics at the National and Sub-National Levels

Chair: Jim Newell (Salford)
Discussant: Gianfranco Pasquino (Bologna)

Simon Parker (York) & Duncan McDonnell (York): “Devolution or Neo-Centralism? Centre Left City Governments in Centre Right Regions: The Cases of Venice and Genoa”
Vincenzo Arnone (Fucam, Belgium), Florence Terranova (Exeter) & Luca Blasi (La Sapienza): “Convergence and Divergence Among Political Coalitions: A Multi-Criteria Analysis applied to the Last Italian Elections”

Italian Politics II: the Second Berlusconi Government

Chair: Jim Newell (Salford)

Gianfranco Pasquino (Bologna): “The Government, the Opposition and the President of the Republic Under Berlusconi”
Osvaldo Croci (Memorial, Canada): “The Second Berlusconi Government and Italian Foreign Policy”
Franca Roncarolo (Turin): “The use of communication as a political resource by Berlusconi”

Presidentialism in France and Italy
(panel organised in conjunction with the French Politics Specialist Group)

Chair: Robert Elgie (Dublin City)
Discussant: Paul Webb (Sussex)

Ben Cliff (Brunel): “The Presidentialisation of the French Polity: Structural and Contingent”
Mark Donovan (Cardiff): “Semi-presidentialism in Italy: From Taboo to Taboo”

Heading Towards Oblivion? Changing Fortunes of the Lega Nord

Chair: Mark Donovan (Cardiff)
Discussant: Jim Newell (Salford)

Daniele Albertazzi (Christ Church, Canterbury): “Difference and Identity in the Lega’s Propaganda. Two Content Analyses”
Benito Giordano (Manchester): “The Anatomy of Decline of the Lega Nord in Veneto: Transitory or Terminal?”

Political Corruption and Organised Crime in Italy

Chair: Mark Donovan (Cardiff)
Discussant: Daniele Albertazzi (Christ Church, Canterbury)

Jim Newell (Salford): “Corruption Mitigating Policies in Italy”
Felia Allum (Bath): “The Struggle Against Organised Crime in Italy”

Papers presented on Italian politics in Aberdeen, 2002

2007-02-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

The following papers were presented at specialist group panels at the Political Studies Association's 52nd Annual Conference in Aberdeen, between the 5th and 7th April 2002.

Transition in Italian Politics I

Mi-Kyung Kim (Texas A&M University): ‘Government Stability, Public Debt and Italian Electoral Reform: An Intervention Time Series Analysis (1994-2000)’.
Mark Donovan (University of Wales, Cardiff): ‘Italy: Rebuilding the Nation State’.

Transition in Italian Politics II

Anna Bull (University of Bath): ‘Towards a federal state? Competing proposals for reforming Italy’ s centre-periphery relations’.
Carl Levy (Goldsmiths College, London): ‘Italian Regionalism 1992-2002’.

Transition in Italian Politics III

Osvaldo Croci (Memorial University of Newfoundland): ‘Italian foreign policy in the 1990s’.
Luca Ratti (University of Wales, Cardiff): ‘Continuity and consensus in Italian foreign policy’.

Transition in Italian Politics IV

Benito Giordano (University of Manchester): ‘The May 2001 general election in Italy and the demise of the Northern League’.
Mark Donovan (University of Wales, Cardiff): ‘Berlusconi, strong government and the Italian state’.

Members of the Specialist Group

2007-02-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Name: Daniele Albertazzi
University: The University of Birmingham
Position: Senior Lecturer in European Media
Address: The University of Birmingham
Centre for European Languages and Cultures
Ashley building
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT
Telephone: +44 (0)121 4147 503
E-mail: d.albertazzi@bham.ac.uk
Research interests: Political communication; Western European populism.
Name: Percy Allum
University: Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: p.allum@tiscalinet.it
Research interests
Name: Geoff Andrews
University: Open University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: G.L.Andrews@open.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Tom Behan
University: University of Kent at Canterbury
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: T.H.Behan@ukc.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Prof Richard Bellamy
University: Reading University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: r.p.bellamy@reading.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Prof Anna Bull
University: University of Bath
Position: Professor of Italian Studies, Department of European Studies and Modern Languages
Address
Telephone
E-mail: a.bull@bath.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Prof. Martin J. Bull
University: University of Salford
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: m.j.bull@salford.ac.uk
Research interests: Contemporary Italian Politics
The Italian Communist Party
The Political Left
Name: Sonia Bussu
University: London School of Economics
Position: MPhil/PhD student
Address
Telephone
E-mail: S.bussu@lse.ac.uk
Research interests: Italian politics; Urban governance; Participatory democracy.
Name: Dr Donatella Campus
University: University of Bologna
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: dcam@interfree.it
Research interests
Name: Prof. Giliberto Capano
University: University of Bologna
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: gcapano@sun1.spfo.unibo.it
Research interests
Name: Eero Carroll
University: SOFI, Stockholm University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: Eero.Carroll@sofi.su.se
Research interests
Name: Prof. Roberto Cartocci
University: University of Bologna
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: cartocci@ats.it
Research interests
Name: Prof. Luciano Cheles
University: University of Poitiers, France
Position: Professor of Italian Studies
Address
Telephone
E-mail: cheles@noos.fr
Research interests: Italian propaganda and political communication, from Fascism to the present.
Name: Dr. Alastair Clark
University: Queen's University, Belfast
Position: Lecturer
Address
E-mail: a.j.clark@qub.ac.uk
Research interests: Comparative political parties and party organisation; comparative party systems; electoral and local politics; and political participation
Name: Rino Coluccello
University: Coventry University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: s.coluccello@coventry.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Nicolò Conti
University: Centre for the Study of Political Change (CIRCAP), University of Siena
Position: Research Fellow
Address: Via Mattioli, 10 53100 Siena, Italy
Telephone
E-mail
Research interests: Parties and party systems, Europeanisation, Euroscepticism research projects Domestic elites and their attitudes toward the EU teaching Comparative Politics, Methodology for the Social Sciences, Italian Politics
Name: Prof. Oslvaldo Croci
University: Memorial University, Newfoundland
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: ocroci@mun.ca
Research interests
Name: Prof. Donatella della Porta
University: University of Florence
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: dellaporta@mail.unifi.it
Research interests
Name: Prof. Mario Diani
University: University of Trento
Position: Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Research
Address
Telephone
E-mail: mario.diani@soc.unitn.it
Research interests: social movements and collective action theory;
the network analysis of political processes;
environmental politics;
ethnonationalist movements;
social capital
Name: Alessia Donà
University: University of Siena
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail
Research interests
Name: Dr Mark Donovan
University: Cardiff University
Position
Address: Cardiff University
School of European Studies
PO Box 908
CARDIFF CF10 3YQ
UK
Telephone: +44-(0)29-2087-4727
E-mail: Donovan@Cardiff.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Phil Edwards
University: University of Salford
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail
Research interests: Protest cycles and political change
Radical social movements of the 1960s and 1970s
The uniqueness of the Italian Communist Party
Name: Ilaria Favretto
University: Kingston University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: I.Favretto@Kingston.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Dr John Foot
University: UCL
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: j.foot@ucl.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Ernesto Gallo
University: University of Turin / Univ. of Birmingham
Position: Post-doctoral student, dept. of Politics / Visiting Lecturer, Department of Italian Studies
Address
Telephone
E-mail: e.gallo@bham.ac.uk
Research interests: international relations theory;
historical sociology and change (Italy, Spain);
European federalism and globalisation;
political thought (Machiavelli, Gramsci, Bobbio).
Name: Walter Geerts
University: University of Antwerp, Belgium
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: walter.geerts@pandora.be
Research interests
Name: Dr Benito Giordano
University: University of Manchester
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: benito.giordano@man.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Dr David Hine
University: Oxford University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: david.hine@chch.ox.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Dr Jonathan Hopkin
University: University of Birmingham
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: J.R.Hopkin@bham.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: James Martin
University: Goldsmiths College, University of London
Position
Address: Department of Social Policy & Politics
Goldsmiths College
University of London
New Cross
London SE14 6NW
Telephone: 0207 919 7754
E-mail: j.martin@gold.ac.uk
Research interests: Italian political thought and ideologies (20th C.)
Liberal socialism
Italian Communism
The Resistance and anti-Fascism
The Italian State (20th C.)
Name: Bruno Mascitelli
University: Swinburne University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: BMascitelli@groupwise.swin.edu.au
Research interests
Name: William McMurtrie
University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: wmcmurtrie@hct.ac.ae
Research interests: The
rediscovery of Spinoza within leftist political philosophy (Althusser,
Balibar, Badiou .../ Deleuze, Negri, Virno ..).
Name: Caterina Paolucci
University: European University Institute
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: cpaolucci@inwind.it
Research interests
Name: Prof. Gianfranco Pasquino
University: University of Bologna
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: gfrpsq@tin.it
Research interests
Name: Prof. Simona Piattoni
University: University of Trento
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: simona.piattoni@soc.unitn.it
Research interests
Name: Nana Rodaki
University: Lancaster University
Position: PhD student
Address: County South,
Lancaster University,
Bailrigg,
Lancaster LA1 4YD,
UK
Telephone
E-mail: a.rodaki@lancaster.ac.uk
Research interests: Cultural Political Economy,Information Age, the Knowledge-based economy
Name: Sarah Rose
University: University of Birmingham
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: sarahrose@slr17.freeserve.co.uk
Research interests
Name: Prof Carlo Ruzza
University: Essex University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: cruzza@essex.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Darrow Scheter
University: Sussex University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail
Research interests
Name: Daniela Sicrelli
University: Trento University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: dsicurel@hotmail.com
Research interests
Name: Francesco Stolfi
University: University College Dublin
Position: Research Fellow
Address: School of Politics and International Relations
Belfield - Dublin 4
Telephone: +353-1-7167502
E-mail: fstolfi@ucd.ie
Research interests: Fiscal Policy
Fiscal Federalism
Public Administration Reform
Core Executive
Name: Luigina Toscano-Davies
University: Cardiff School of European Studies, Cardiff University
Address: Cardiff University

65-68 Park Place

Cardiff CF10 3AS

Wales UK
E-mail: toscanol@cf.ac.uk
Research interests: Female employment policy in Europe and Italy
Name: Christina Ujma
University: Loughborough University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: C.Ujma@lboro.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Prof. Luca Verzichelli
University: University of Siena
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: verzichelli@unisi.it
Research interests
Name: Paul Webb
University: Sussex University
Position
Address
Telephone
E-mail: P.Webb@sussex.ac.uk
Research interests
Name: Manuela Williams
University: Strathclyde University
Position: Lecturer in Modern European History
Address: University of Strathclyde

McCance Building

16 Richmond Street

Glasgow

G1 1XQ
Telephone: +44 141 548 2231
E-mail: manuela.williams@strath.ac.uk
Research interests: Italian and European political history (20th C.)

Propaganda and political communication

Political and social history of the Middle East (20th C.)

Intelligence and international security and conflicts

Executive Committee 2009 - 2011

2007-02-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

Co-Convenor and Secretary: Daniele Albertazzi (d.albertazzi@bham.ac.uk);

Co-Convenor and Conference Officer: Duncan McDonnell (duncan.mcdonnell@unito.it);

Chair: Paul Furlong (furlongp@cardiff.ac.uk);

Treasurer: Jim Newell (j.l.newell@salford.ac.uk);

Membership Secretary: Mark Donovan (donovan@Cardiff.ac.uk);

Communications and Postgraduate Officer: Chris Hanretty (chris.hanretty@eui.eu);

Congrips Liason Officer: Maurizio Carbone (m.carbone@lbss.gla.ac.uk).

Group founded in July 2001 by Felia Allum and Jim Newell.

Italian Politics Specialist Group

Italian Politics @ PSA 2012

Italian Politics @ PSA 2011

The Italian Political System 150 Years On: The Risorgimento's Relevance Today

The Italian presidency in the post-war political system: call for papers.

PSA 2011 Call for Papers

PSA 2010

Call for papers: The Politics of Sexuality in Contemporary Italy

CONGRIPS call for papers

CONFERENCE GROUP ON ITALIAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY (CONGRIPS), 106TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLTIICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION (APSA), WASHINGTON DC, 3-6 SEPTEMBER 2010

Title: The 2008 Election and the Italian Political System: Quo Vadis?

Fellowship in Italian studies

Call for Papers: PSA 60th Anniversary Conference, Edinburgh, 29 March – 1 April 2010

Group members participating at SISP

ASMI Postgraduate Conference

Italian Cultural Institute, EdinburghFriday 3 July 2009

Bulletin of Italian Politics to launch

Selected publications from 2008

by Tom Behan

by Mark Donovan

by Carl Levy

by Bruno Mascitelli and Simone Battiston

by Gianfranco Pasquino

Annual PSA meeting in Swansea

"Party Leaders and the Media" - call for papers

UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference, 1 - 3 April 2008

Call for papers on southern European politics

UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference, 1 - 3 April 2008

Papers presented at the Bath PSA conference (#1)

Group ABM in Bath

XI Convegno SISP: Catania, 20-22 September 2007

Recently published (Jan. 2007)

Papers presented at PSA conference in Leicester, 2003

Papers presented on Italian politics in Aberdeen, 2002

Members of the Specialist Group

Executive Committee 2009 - 2011

Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh
Friday 3 July 2009