Cristiano Vezzoni

Involvement of the Dutch General Population in Advance Care Planning: A Cross-Sectional Survey

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Advance care planning (ACP) is a process of communication among patients, health care providers, and relatives regarding end-of-life care. The aim of our study was to determine if a representative sample of the Dutch general public is currently involved or is inclined to be engaged in ACP, and to delineate the factors associated with greater engagement. METHODS An online questionnaire was completed by a representative sample of the Dutch general public, derived from an established Internet panel (CentERdata, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Although the majority of the Dutch population seems open to discussions about end-of-life care, our study revealed that discussions with physicians are exceedingly rare. To improve ACP as a joint process among patients, relatives, and physicians, the general publics awareness of the importance of end-of-life discussions with their physicians needs to be increased and physicians need to play a more active role by initiating conversations and dialogue regarding end-of-life care.

Diffusion Processes and Discussion Networks: An Analysis of the Propensity to Vote for the 5 Star Movement in the 2013 Italian Election

Abstract The article aims to analyze the development of the propensity to vote for a new populist party, Movimento 5 Stelle (the 5 Star Movement, M5S), during the campaign for the 2013 Italian general election. The party, headed by a former comedian, Beppe Grillo, gained 25% of valid votes in the election, thus becoming the largest party in the Italian political landscape. Using rolling cross-sectional, pre-election data from the Italian National Election Study (ITANES), we show that the propensity to vote for the M5S is boosted by voters’ exposure to discussions on political matters with discussants from non-cohesive social groups (especially acquaintances). We also show that, together with the spread of support for this party, this effect increases during the campaign.

Classe soCiale e voto in italia, 1972-2006

Introduzione L’interesse per l’associazione tra la classe sociale degli individui e le loro scelte elettorali risale direttamente alle origini della politica di massa contemporanea, e ai classici delle scienze politiche e sociali. L’idea della «lotta di classe democratica» e che nel capitalismo maturo, con libere elezioni e sistema politico democratico, il conflitto tra borghesia e classe operaia tipico della societa moderna si «civilizza»: esso perde le forme drammatiche e violente della rivoluzione e della reazione controrivoluzionaria, per assumere le forme pacifiche e regolate dalla legge del confronto elettorale e parlamentare tra partiti politici che esprimono gli interessi delle classi in conflitto. Questa idea e messa oggi in discussione da molti osservatori e studiosi, che sostengono che le classi sociali abbiano in generale perso rilevanza empirica e analitica, e in particolare che l’associazione tra classe e voto oggi sia solo un fenomeno residuale, e per questo trascurabile. Questo lavoro studia il rapporto tra classe sociale e voto in Italia dal 1972 al 2006, per capire quanto conti la relazione tra queste due variabili, e quanto essa sia cambiata nel tempo. La condizione occupazionale degli individui e associata al loro comportamento elettorale? Tale associazione e cambiata durante gli ultimi decenni? Se si, qual e stata la direzione del cambiamento? Dopo questa introduzione, il lavoro e articolato in altri 8 paragrafi. Il secondo presenta il contesto teorico in cui ci si muove, mentre il terzo descrive dati e vaUna prima versione di questo lavoro e stato presentata al seminario internazionale Class and religion in contemporary party politics, del Committee for Political Sociology dell’IPSA – ISA (Bologna, dicembre 2006). Gli autori ringraziano Piero Ignazi, organizzatore del seminario, Paolo Segatti e tutti i partecipanti per i numerosi commenti ricevuti; e poi Nazareno Panichella, che ha fatto una prima traduzione italiana dell’originale inglese, Fabrizio Bernardi per alcuni utili suggerimenti e, last but not least, il referee anonimo della rivista, che ha molto contribuito al miglioramento del lavoro.

Local and national effects in the electoral cycle: the case of Italy (2001–2009)

ABSTRACT Local and national effects in the electoral cycle: the case of Italy, 2001–2009. Territory, Politics, Governance. According to electoral cycle theory, in second-order elections small parties are expected to improve their performance, while big parties are expected to be punished. This paper formally tests whether these electoral cycle effects can be considered as solely national in nature or whether they vary at the local level. It tests the expectations in Northern Italy in two electoral cycles (2001–2004 and 2008–2009), with special reference to Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia/PdL and the smaller ally, Lega Nord. The paper analyses electoral outcomes at the municipality level with spatial analysis techniques (Moran’s I and spatial autoregressive model), showing that parties’ support seems to follow a local electoral cycle, partly independent from the aggregate one.

Believing in Conspiracy Theories: Evidence from an Exploratory Analysis of Italian Survey Data

Abstract Beliefs in conspiracy theories have attracted significant international media attention in recent years. This phenomenon has been studied in the US but while anecdotal evidence suggests it is also widespread among the Italian public, little evidence has been collected to assess it empirically. Using data from a 2016 survey, this pioneering study of the Italian case investigates the extent of diffusion of conspiracy theories among Italians and tests several hypotheses concerning individual determinants. The paper finds that conspiracism is indeed widely diffused in Italy. It is negatively associated with education and positively with religiosity, while no correlation is found with political trust. Beliefs in conspiracies are also related to rightwing orientation and support for the populist Five Star Movement.

Thou shalt not cheat: how to reduce internet use in web surveys on political knowledge

By means of a split-ballot survey experiment, we study whether a normative instruction not to use the internet when answering political knowledge questions reduces cheating in web surveys. The knowledge questions refer to basic facts about the European Union and the data come from the Italian National Election Study web panel carried out in Italy before the 2014 European Election. Our analysis shows that a simple normative instruction significantly reduces cheating. We also show that reducing cheating is important to achieve a correct assessment of reliability of knowledge scales, while a decrease of cheating leaves unaltered the knowledge gap between lower and higher educated respondents. These results invite caution when including political knowledge questions in an online survey. Our advice is to include a normative instruction not to search the internet to reduce cheating and obtain more genuine answers. More generally, we conclude by stressing the need to consider the implications of online data collection when building questionnaires for public opinion research.

Secondary analysis in the social sciences and its relation to futures studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of secondary analysis to social sciences and to futures studies, both for research and teaching purposes. Design/methodology/approach – An illustration of the main characteristics of secondary analysis, presenting it as a theory-driven activity where the definition of the research design plays a fundamental role. Findings – This paper extends the secondary analysis approach to the study of the future. The utility of secondary analysis for futures studies is illustrated by means of the presentation of two examples developed in the field of the sociology of religion. Originality/value – The results are useful for those who want to develop sound and robust approaches to the study of social change, taking into consideration the simulation of possible future scenarios.