Luigi Ceccarini

From the Street to the Shops: The Rise of New Forms of Political Action in Italy (?)

This article argues that substantial changes have occurred in citizen political participation modes and in particular in the repertoire of unconventional action. Over the past few years, even in countries where there was not this tradition, besides forms such as public meetings, demonstration marches, strikes and certain other forms of protest, citizens have started to use their shopping-bag power in an attempt to influence institutional or market practices. The article aims to shed some light on political consumerism in Italy.

The Five-Star Movement: a hybrid actor in the net of state institutions

The MoVimento 5 Stelle (M5S, Five-Star Movement), led by the former comedian Beppe Grillo, is one of the political novelties of major interest in the Italian political scene, and also on an international scale. This article examines the Movements evolution following its extraordinary success at the 2013 Italian general election. Four peculiar features of the M5Ss experience are analyzed here: the Movements anti-system stance; its specific conception of democracy; its post-ideological profile; and the innovative elements in its party organization. The overall picture suggests a mixture of resistance and adjustment to the system. Consequently, the process of gradual normalization and institutionalization of Grillos party is becoming increasingly evident, while inherent contradictions and internal problems remain.

Referendum on Renzi: The 2016 Vote on the Italian Constitutional Revision

Abstract The 2016 constitutional referendum could have marked a new phase in Italian politics, producing a clear shift towards a majoritarian (and de facto presidential) democracy. But a substantial majority of voters rejected the reforms promoted by Matteo Renzi, leading to his resignation as Prime Minister. Once again, an attempt to redesign the Italian institutional framework failed due to party conflicts. This time, the referendum turned into a vote on Renzi himself. This article examines the background to the institutional reforms and the changing dynamics of the referendum campaign. Discussing the final outcome, it argues that this could produce a sort of U-turn in the long Italian transition.

Protest and project, leader and party: normalisation of the Five Star Movement

This article analyses public perceptions of the Five Star Movement (M5S). Voters’ points of view are examined by studying opinion poll results from a longitudinal perspective. The authors focus on three issues important for the future of the M5S: (1) the need to choose between pursuit of a substantive political project or anti-political protest; (2) perceptions of the party’s ability to govern at local or national level; (3) the relationship between the M5S’s electoral base and its leader. The study reveals that the M5S is a heterogeneous entity, ambivalent in many respects. Public opinion, as a whole, sees it primarily as a movement of political protest. It is also perceived as being better able to govern at a local than at a national level. With the expansion of its support in 2012 and 2013, its electorate came to include citizens whose political outlooks were very diverse. The acquisition of new supporters – most of whom had previously voted for centre-right parties – brought a change in the distribution of the attitudes of its voters with regard to the party’s leader and its relationships with society and politics. At the end of a period in which it has been in public office for some months, the M5S’s image seems to be slightly different compared both to other parties and to its own recent past. The M5S’s controversial institutionalisation process and the normalisation of perceptions of it appear to be progressing in parallel.

The election campaign and the ‘last-minute’ deciders

The general election of 2013 marked a ‘turning point’. Voting indecision was significantly higher than in the past while voting choices were made later, with the proportion of ‘late deciders’ and ‘last-minute voters’ growing as compared with 2008 and 2006. Voters’ willingness to change their votes was this time reflected in their actual choices. A more open attitude towards the political offerings was also apparent and this generated a degree of interest in the campaign that was greater than at any time in the previous 10 years. The configuration of parties among which voters were called upon to choose was very different as compared with previous elections. By describing and taking these features as its point of departure, this article explores the behaviour of voters during the course of the election campaign and analyses their decision-making processes from the perspective of when they made up their minds. The analysis then focuses on a new political entity, the Five-star Movement (MoVimento 5 Stelle), and on who voted for it. As one of the competitors it was successful in providing representation for the anti-political sentiments widespread among the Italian electorate. The Five-star Movement was also able to capitalise on the climate of voting indecision, spearheading the widespread demand for political renewal. It gained such electoral advantages from this that it became the most-voted party, posing a strong challenge to Italy’s bipolar party system.

Matteo Renzi: The Post-Modern Prince

Is it truly a new era in Italian politics? Between 2011 and 2013 a “new Italian transition” seems to have begun, twenty years after the turning point of the early Nineties. The fall of the last Silvio Berlusconi government; the season of the great coalitions, with the governments of Mario Monti and Enrico Letta; the General Election in 2013, with the unexpected and loud eruption onto the national political scene of the 5-Star Movement (M5S): these are the crucial stages on the road to the conclusion of the Second Republic. Yet, it is still unclear what form the Italian political system will take.

Il partito di Grillo

on current and future media practices given the speed of technological developments. The micro focus of the analysis, however, does not at all detract from the originality and insight it offers. Indeed, this study contributes to our understanding of the place of different communication technologies – as well as the content and meanings they ‘carry’ and help to construct – in the complex relationships between institutional and non-institutional political actors, media practitioners and publics in twenty-first-century political communication. This book could be very useful for teaching purposes. Not only it is an excellent example of how case studies, as well as a triangulation of ethnographic fieldwork (interviews) and content analysis (social movement-generated documents, news coverage), can be integrated to far-reaching analytical effects. It also provides engaging case studies that can be used in lectures and class debates. Some of the examples are extremely creative forms of collective action, which are ideal for capturing the imagination and interest of students. For instance, to illustrate political mobilisation outside the institutional channels in a lecture about social movements, I have already borrowed the example of the Serpica Naro fashion show. This was a media hoax revolving around a fictional Anglo-Japanese fashion designer (Serpica Naro, by the way, is an anagram of San Precario, the ‘patron saint’ of the precariat). She was created by the Chainworkers Crew, a group of precarious workers in the fashion industry. They managed to enrol the fake stylist in the Milan FashionWeek in February 2005, produced a false website and even had a press officemanaged by a fictitious journalist. They succeeded in presenting, at the ‘Mecca of the global fashion system’, a range of ‘ironic fashion lines designed to solve the daily problems of women with short-term contracts’ (6). As a last note, the book is mainly written in the language of media studies. At points it was not the most readable book I have ever encountered. By any means, however, the text is accessible to readers of any background. There is no doubt thatMedia Practices and Protest Politics is an extremely interesting study, a possible teaching resource, and perhaps an inspiration for future multidisciplinary research in political communication.