Fortunato Musella

‘PARLAMENTARIE PD’ UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

In December 2012, for the first time, the Italian Partito Democratico held primary elections for the selection of candidates to run for the general election—the so-called ‘Parlamentarie’. The event has received far less scholarly attention than it deserves. Although the relevance of these elections in terms of numbers of participants and candidates is obvious, as well as their impact on Pd internal relationships, systematic studies on how they worked and their consequences are still missing. This article aims to respond to this gap, providing a first brief analysis of the Parlamentarie that focuses on the two main dimensions: participation and competitiveness.

How personal parties change: party organisation and (in)discipline in Italy (1994–2013)

The rise of personal parties is one of the most relevant and innovative political phenomena to emerge from the Italian Second Republic. During the 1990s, Forza Italia presented a new type of party political organisation where personalisation, professionalisation and centralisation represented the keys to success that led Silvio Berlusconi to three general election victories, and that were soon variously taken up by both the centre–right and centre–left coalitions. Yet, two decades after Berlusconi entered politics, the personalisation of politics is showing another face, being no longer confined to party leadership, but affecting the party at all levels. Italian political parties seem to be split into a large number of components headed by sub-leaders. With the complicity of the new electoral system, a process of personalistic atomisation has threatened the cohesiveness – and sometimes the very survival – of Italy’s most consolidated political organisations. In this article, after an analysis of the evolution of personal parties in the Italian context, attention will be paid to some indicators of intra-party individualism, such as the proliferation of parliamentary groups, frequent party switching and indiscipline in carrying out legislative activities. The analysis of leadership-driven transformations occurring in party structures (the so-called party in central office) will be combined with an investigation of what is happening in representative institutions (the party in public office).

Toward the European administrative space: the role of e-government policy

The ‘challenge of convergence’ has become a core element of the European policy-making agenda. Many programs have been initiated by European institutions with a view to ensure uniformity in administrative actions and structures. In this article, we will investigate the formation of a ‘European administrative space’ as a result of a process of convergence toward a common European model, looking, in particular, at the role of communication and information technologies. As numerous policy documents produced by the European Commission indicate, new technologies have the potential to create administrative systems that are integrated across the European context in terms of their semantic, organizational, and technical content. We will pay close attention to the role of technological standardization in promoting economic development and competitiveness, as well as considering security policy as an example of ‘homogenization through technology’.

Presidents in business. Career and destiny of democratic leaders

Deep changes regard the political careers of democratic leaders. Until recently, becoming president or prime minister was the last step before retirement or withdrawal to an undemanding seat on the back benches. On the contrary recent heads of government are enthusiastically seeking alternative ways to capitalize on their prestige and contacts portfolio, often ending up in the world of business or international finance. There are many examples of such a trend, from Blair to Mulroney, from Schroder to Barak. This article provides an empirical analysis of the phenomenon, by examining a dataset of 441 leaders in 78 different democratic countries over a period dating from 1989 to 2012. Attention will be focused on the political background of the prime ministers and presidents, how long they stay in power, the average age of heads of government, what professional pursuits they are involved in after their term in office and what career model they follow. The article concludes by proposing a post-presidential model which indicates some of the current trends and illustrates how former leaders are gaining decision-making power and visibility.

Leaders in Business

This chapter deals with career paths of political leaders by showing how they do not stop with politics, but continue through a complex system of relationships that politics opens up for them. Whether we are talking about advisory and/or consultancy posts, or company directorships, the number of democratic leaders who go into business following the end of their term in office is steadily increasing. These leaders make full use of the personal and professional skills that guaranteed their original rise to power, but they also rely on government networks. Very often, the new generation of “leaders in business” use their term in office as a springboard toward a post-presidential future that is more active and better paid than their previous post.

Leader and Party: Still an Oxymoron?

Political personalization is one of the most relevant processes of our time, affecting every aspect of contemporary politics. Yet when it occurs in political parties, this is the last place we want to see it happening. This chapter investigates the reasons why party leadership remains a quite neglected theme in political science and presents the current state of the art on this topic. An overview of the contents and main research questions of the volume will be also given, focusing attention on the journey of party leaders through the different stages of their mandate: pre-presidency, presidency and post-presidency.

The Personal Side of Politics

In this conclusive chapter, the main thesis of the book is summed up, and question of the future of political parties and democracies is raised. In particular, personalization is viewed as a “Sword of Damocles” for party leaders, as while it reinforces them as the “dominus of political parties” and sometimes of the political system, they experience several difficulties in ensuring the strength and continuity of their political actions. Moreover, a new relationship between politics and private business emerges from our study of post-presidential professional activity, posing new challenges for Western democracies and their representative mechanisms.

Il mandato plebiscitario dei leader democratici. Antecedenti americani e sviluppi recenti

The article aims at analysing different conception of presidential mandate when the process of personalisation is impacting on the contemporary democracies. It considers the prominence assumed by the American presidents during the Nineteenth century, after the advent of the so called Second Republic. And it shows how relevant analogies may be provided with European countries, particularly with Italy. Indeed, in both Old and new Continent, the rise of personal leaders is producing a different interpretation of the concept of political representation, and a consequent adaptation of the theory of democracy.

Voto amaro: disincanto e crisi economica nelle elezioni del 2013, by ITANES

because they are taking place in the context of an increasing lack of uniformity in the development of policies, which are caught between increasing local activism on one hand and the loss of influence of actors at national level on the other. On the basis of these reflections, Ciarini’s model of interpretation attempts to combine the analysis of institutional and structural factors with recognition of the contingent and unpredictable nature of historical processes which, intentionally or otherwise, have brought historical ruptures that have influenced the evolution of subnational administrative bodies. The author’s conclusion is that there is no single model of local governance to which the various regional systems can be made to conform; neither should one be hoped for.