Still the anomalous democracy? Politics and institutions in Italy

Bull, MJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2612-3183 and Newell, JL 2009, 'Still the anomalous democracy? Politics and institutions in Italy' , Government And Opposition, 44 (1) , pp. 42-67.

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Abstract

Until the early 1990s, the Italian political system was regarded as anomalous among advanced democracies because of its failure to achieve alternation in government. Since then, that problem has been overcome, but Italy has been popularly viewed as continuing to be different to other democracies because it is ‘in transition’ between regimes. However, this position itself is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because of the length of time of this so-called transition. Rather than focus on what is rather an abstract debate, it may be more fruitful to analyse what, in substance, is distinctive about Italian politics in this period: the manner in which a debate over fundamental institutional (including electoral) reform has become entangled in day-to-day politics. This can best be exemplified through an analysis of two key electoral consultations held in 2006: the national elections and the referendum on radically revising the Italian Constitution.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Memory, Text and Place
Schools:	Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences > Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
Journal or Publication Title:	Government And Opposition
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	0017-257X
Depositing User:	Users 47901 not found.
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2011 10:37
Last Modified:	11 Jan 2018 06:03
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/16866

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