The latest parliamentary election is a turning point for the Italian Republic. Giorgia Meloni reached a historical victory, paving the way for her post-fascist formation. There are no serious consequences for the future of democracy to be expected. Yet electoral results showed strong elements of fluidity within the party system that could provide new lessons […]
FORTUNATO MUSELLA, Phd in Political Science of the University of Florence, is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Naples Federico II and Professor of Political Concepts for the Phd course of the Scuola Normale di Pisa. He has been visiting scholar at the Cornell University (Usa), and visiting professor at the Sussex European Institute (UK) and at the Leuphana Universität (Germany). He is currently member of the Editorial Board of the Italian Political Science Review, and he serves in the Executive Board of Federica WebLearning, Center for Innovation and Dissemination of Distance Learning
His main research interests include the study of government, presidential politics, political parties, concept analysis and new media. Among his recent publications the volumes Governi monocratici. La svolta presidenziale nelle regioni italiane (Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009) and Il premier diviso. Italia tra presidenzialismo e parlamentarismo (Milan, Bocconi, 2012), and fifty book chapters and articles published in peer review journal such as European Political Science Review, Representation, Contemporary Italian Politics, Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, Quaderni di Scienza Politica.
The Italian way is not so different to other political trends that we have seen across Europe. Strongly personalised electoral campaigns have brought to power leaders that have developed a direct relationship with citizens. Such “personal leaders” [1] gain growing autonomy from their parties, and very often stay in power in spite of the opposition […]