italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
Dear colleagues,
Felia Allum (University of Bath) and I are organising a panel for
the UK Political Studies Association Conference in Leicester,
15-17 April 2003. The panel is entitled ‘Italian politics and the
Berlusconi government two years on’. Anyone who wants to
give a paper should e-mail me by 5th November with a short
abstract (circa 300 words) describing the paper they want to
present. The following paragraph describes the intended focus of
the panel and the issues we would wish papers to address.
In many ways, the general election of 2001 marked a significant
new departure in Italian politics. In bringing to office a
government as a direct consequence of the electoral outcome
itself it represented the further consolidation of a predominantly
majoritarian and bipolar dynamic to party competition. This put
the government under particular pressure to carry through the
programme on which it had been elected while creating a
correspondingly new politico-strategic environment in which the
parties of opposition would have to work. On the other hand,
the election outcome was not, seemingly, the result of significant
electoral change and just as the old political forces ran a party-
dominated state, so (many would argue) Berlusconi now seems
to be turning Italy into a 'business state' dominated by his private
commercial interests. It was clear, therefore, that whether 2001
would turn out to represent a real milestone in Italian politics
would depend crucially on the actual development of the
legislature. Almost two years after the election it is now
appropriate to begin to consider this issue and papers are invited
which address aspects of it. We are particularly interested in
papers relevant to one or more of three sets of questions:
In the light of developments since, what is the significance of
2001 – for the Italian political system generally and for
specific institutions, actors and behaviour? For example,
what are the most significant new departures that can be
identified in terms of things like policy making or the party
system?
Are there any indicators that the current legislature is seeing
any movement towards completion of the so-called ‘Italian
transition’? If so why? If not, why not?
How is the Berlusconi government to be understood and
how is it best characterised from a political theory point of
view? If there is something novel about the government, it
what does the novelty consist?
Jim Newell
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School of English, Sociology, Politics & Contemporary History
University of Salford
Salford M5 4WT
Tel +44 (0)161 295 5660
Fax +44 (0)161 295 5077
www.esri.salford.ac.uk
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