Outlier or forerunner? Discussing the role and relevance of the Italian case in a broader context of democratic crisis

Italy: outlier or forerunner?

After the collapse of the so-called First Republic, Italy has experienced a massive decline of its regime-founding parties, combined with an ongoing difficulty to properly institutionalize the structure and the dynamics of its political system.

Among the most relevant phenomena that have followed the 1992–94 juncture, some have apparently qualified Italy as a forerunner: namely, the emergence of new political leaders leveraging massive economic and media resources accumulated outside of the political sphere; a process of personalization of political leadership, in a context of organizational weakening of political parties; an increasing presence of technocratic figures even in ordinary party governments.

Other phenomena instead see Italy as a possible outlier (so far: what about the future?): a further aggravation of the weakening of political parties due to the de facto abolition of public funding for political parties; the first appearance, in a large West European country, of a government made entirely of parties that can be classified as populist; an increasing frequency of technocratic  governments (the latest, directly headed by a former ECB president); the recent formation of the most right-wing government of Italy’s republican history, also quite unique in the West European landscape.

While it is difficult to identify common denominators for these different phenomena, we argue that a  fil rouge  may be the  (possibly increasing) weakness of politics vis-à-vis other spheres of society. This theme, hardly unique to Italy, seemingly unites the structural—and apparently not amendable—crisis of political parties and the increase in the role and influence of other actors, both internal (interest and advocacy groups, media, opinion makers) and external ones (EU institutions, global markets, etc.), in the policymaking process, potentially spilling over to their ability to condition the government formation process, the government’s daily activity, and the processes of policy implementation.

These phenomena also resonate with current scientific debates such as those on the organizational change of political parties, on the emergence and success of challenger parties (also along the responsiveness-responsibility tension), anti-pluralism as a common characteristic of both populism and technocracy, the emergence of multi-level governance (especially in EU integration terms) and its impact on electoral politics (also with its implications in terms of foreign policy), depoliticization (animated both by the emergence of technocratic elites and the desire of politicians to dilute responsibility of costly political decisions), the changing nature of the public sphere (along with its implications for determining policy change), the crisis of political parties’ gatekeeping role vis-à-vis interest groups (with society possibly directly entering the state, thus reversing the original cartel party thesis), polarization within the world of interest groups, the changing role of the state in steering and implementing public policies, and many others.

In sum, we argue that developments recently observed in Italy, while at first sight qualifying the case as an outlier, might end up suggesting it instead as a forerunner, possibly documenting the early emergence of phenomena that might be later observed in many other political systems and thus identifying it as an emblematic example of the crisis of liberal democracy. Hence, we think Italy in the 2020s constitutes a political laboratory that should be of great interest for political scientists.

The content of the call

IPSR/RISP proposes to present a special issue uniting papers which address these themes.  In particular, we invite Italian and international colleagues to work together by focusing on the Italian case in a genuine exercise of comparative politics. We seek papers which combine rigorous comparative methodology and in-depth knowledge of the case under study, whether the focus is on shedding light on Italian politics, or on using the Italian case to shed light on developments elsewhere; but with a common commitment to treating Italy (perhaps along with other cases) as a case seen from a comparative perspective, capable of delivering analytical and theoretical added value to the discussion of the crisis of democracy.

We particularly welcome papers that consider “how” and “with what outcomes” Italy’s representative institutions and policy processes have responded and evolved when faced with economic and policy challenges that are transnational in scope.

We strongly encourage papers from younger scholars, as well as papers leveraging the productive cooperation of Italian and international scholars (an ancient tradition—by now common practice—in Italian political science), together with all forms of cooperation that testify to the lively diversity of our community in terms of both seniority and gender.

Operational aspects

• The deadline for submitting proposals is 16 January, 2023. Proposals should be about 500 to 1,000 words long and sent by 16 January, 2023 to risp@sisp.it.
• Announcement of proposals selected: End of January 2023.
• After a short update at the end of March 2023, the selected proposals will be presented and discussed in a hybrid workshop held on 24-26 May, 2023. We do not expect full papers, especially for proposals that are particularly innovative or require deep empirical research. At minimum, however, we do require short, clear and summative drafts.
• On 16-18 November 2023, the final versions of the papers will be discussed in a second workshop held in Rome at Luiss University.
• We expect the final special issue to include 7-8 papers, but a larger number could be included in case of particular high-quality contributions; and a larger number could be selected to contribute to the first workshop.
• Submission of the final papers of the special issue: 6 January, 2024.

Research not fitting this special issue call?

Are you conducting research that does not fit this special issue call? IPSR/RISP is always happy to accept individual submissions, and we strive to ensure a prompt review process.  For more information on the journal and on how to submit, visit the journal home page

Lorenzo De Sio (LUISS) and Sylvia Kritzinger (University of Vienna), 2023-2026 Editors of the Italian Political Science Review

Giliberto Capano (University of Bologna) and Susan E. Scarrow (University of Houston), Guest Editors of the Special Issue