Fulvio Venturino

The Partito Democratico after the 2013 elections: all change?

This article analyzes the changes that occurred within the Partito Democratico (PD, Democratic Party) from the fiasco of the general election in February 2013 until the European elections in May 2014, focusing in particular on the extent to which the presence of a new, distinctive type of leadership has contributed to such transformations. The first section describes the most relevant events affecting the party in the period considered, such as the failure to gain a parliamentary majority, the problematic re-election of Giorgio Napolitano as President of the Italian Republic, the transition from Pier Luigi Bersani to Matteo Renzi as party leader, and the transition from Enrico Letta to Renzi as Prime Minister. The following sections deal with questions of renewal in the partys organization, with an emphasis on the key role played by Matteo Renzi as the new leader. To achieve its goal and explain how the PD has changed in recent months, the article resorts to the well-known framework of the three party faces proposed by Katz and Mair.

Measuring Direct Democracy

The empirical theory of democracy, contrasting the “classical” conception, is often said to have been conceived by Schumpeter (1962). Since then, a lot of theoretical and empirical contributes have been added. Most of them are directly related to the approach proposed by the venerable founding father. For this reason, they form the so-called economic theories of politics, strongly based on assumptions of individuals as rational and self-interested decision-makers (Downs 1957; Riker and Ordeshook 1973; Olson 1965). Another strand of research developed since the 1960s’ agreeing to completely different theoretical underpinnings. Here the main concepts draw from sociology, political culture being (one of) the most important (Dahl 1971; Lijphart 1968).

La cittadinanza online, by Luigi Ceccarini, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015, 229 pp., € 14,00 (paperback), ISBN 978-8-815-25715-4

policies regarding their issues of interest. In view of the fact that the first two chapters highlighted the importance for these new collective actors of the new information and communication technologies, such as the Internet and the various social networking sites, a further development of this research could be a focused analysis of the online strategies implemented by these associative forms. This could be done, specifically, by deepening the description of the actions undertaken when creating ad hoc groups and engaging in campaigning and advocacy during the process of disintermediation of politics; and when circumventing the mass media. In summary, the embedded value of this book is that the authors have clearly defined the units of analysis, through in-depth research into their genesis, their structures and their actions. Moreover, they offer a particular perspective on the new associative forms developed in the Lazio Region and their increasing role in the local political system, highlighting, in the case studies, the opportunity they represent for democracy. Therefore, this book helps to enhance understanding of how common citizens organise and mobilise, seeking new strategies for campaigning and pressing their demands.

Le primarie del Partito Democratico. Un’analisi della partecipazione giovanile a Lecce e Genova

Italian Democratic Party primary. A study about youth participation in Lecce and Genova - Learning about political candidatures choice can be a cognitively taxing task, given that the information environment of campaign may be complicated. This paper reports results from a process-tracing researches designed to learn how young voters in a primary election adopt and use such strategies. Key words: Decision-making, process-tracing, voting