The essay starts from the enigma of the contemporary forms of populism expressed by the Uk’s coalition government: how do we interpret an unpopular populism? It highlights some principal features of the discourse and practice characterizing the Coalition’s policies, defining a somewhat unstable mixture of strategies aimed at legitimating the government itself and the austerity polices of cuts in public spending and reform of the public services. It suggests that the populist aspects are part of a wider repertoire, which speaks in particular the language of making a virtue of necessity and social authoritarianism. This mixture of austerity, populism and authoritarianism is linked to analyses of the past on Thatcherism and «authoritarian populism» in the Uk. The final section of the essay reflects once again on the enigma of an unpopular populism, bringing out how the Coalition’s populism does not seem to receive support. Does this mean that the Coalition project is to be interpreted as a political mobilization that has failed or as a demobilization that has succeeded?only subscribers can see the full article

As has happened in other western countries, in Italy too the theme of the perception of security and the connected demand for security by citizens has assumed a central role in the political debate. The response of the institutions to this demand, both in terms of rhetoric and practice, has shown the effects of the politicization of this issue, which is tempting for the mass media and politicians, and subject to the typical dynamics of populism. The specifics of the Italian situation are in the role played in the last twenty zears by local bodies, particularly mayors, in constructing the theme of urban security. It has been described both in terms of precautionary measures and programmes to improve the quality of life and the city itself, and in punitive terms, with references to the slogan of «zero tolerance». The year 2007, on the wave of a series of savage crimes in Rome, was decisive for the success of the second of these two readings, the alarmist and emotional one, which included elements of xenophobia. On this occasion the centre-left proved incapable of finding its own independent, effective discourse on the theme of urban security.only subscribers can see the full article

The emergence of populisms in Europe in the 1980s reveals a particular socio-political context that is the background of the crisis of modernity. Contemporary democracies manifest problems and contradictions that touch various levels, from the economic to the specifically political. In this scenario various movements and populist parties arise and propagate themselves, with similar characteristics and specific features linked to their national contexts. J.M. Le Pen’s Front National is an emblematic example for its importance, support and duration. It plays on some basic concepts: appeal to the people, both as a means of protest and as a badge of identity, hostility to immigration, fiery nationalism tending to xenophobia, and the celebration of French purity and grandeur. Sarkozy’s Presidency, which is now coming to an end, has used several themes of the populist discourse on the problems of security, immigration and national identity, thus achieving a sort of institutionalization of populism, cleansed of its more extreme and unacceptable features.only subscribers can see the full article

After giving a theoretical account of the phenomenon, the author looks at the reasons that have led to the rise of populist parties in Europe; these include the crisis of the Fordist model of industrial output and the resulting changes that have broken up the old classes, introducing an ever more noticeable fragmentation of the great social groupings on which the mass parties were founded. She underlines, on the one hand, how we are faced with political forces that have quickly understood the emerging unease; on the other hand, she shows how the populist parties have promptly occupied the political vacuum left by the traditional ones. However, what they offer is inadequate to the challenges they are faced with and that require the recovery of the function of aggregation the parties once performed, with the aim of offering once again a prospect that can give faith in the future.only subscribers can see the full article

In the last twenty years Romania has been striking for the remarkable number of political parties that make up the heterogeneous populist forces in the country. In an attempt to explain the capacity of this genre of populism to reinvent itself in various forms, the analysis sketches out a classification of the various populist formulas of Romanian post-communism, looking both at the genealogical aspects and at the mechanisms of post-communism that encourage its growth. It points to an osmosis between populism’s strong roots and the weaknesses of democracy, in the sense that we cannot define what is the cause of what. It seems that the mixture of post-communist democracy, which is still being consolidated, and the populist genre has achieved a certain balance. There is a symbiosis between dêmos and éthnos and the visibility of the leader as strategies for going beyond the classical forms of mediation. Although populism is subject to constant criticism, no structural obstacle can be found, and populist deviations have now become mainstream procedures.only subscribers can see the full article

Just as Italy has seen an imperfect version of consensual democracy, based on coalitions between parties, and a version of neo-corporatism no less imperfect and incomplete, so it has experienced a partial and sketchy version both of new free-market policies, and of post-party based and majority democracy. To describe this imperfection it has become customary to refer to the dilemma of populism/anti-politics, explaining its problems exclusively in terms of politics. This is a misleading simplification, as the reasons run much deeper. So-called populism is an offshoot of the problematic Italian transition from Fordism to post-Fordism, of the changes caused by this transition n the texture of Italian society, as well as of the adventurous transition from a consensual to a majority system. The fragility of the economy and the weakness of politics were handled, and combated are plausible explanations for the radicalization rightwards of part of the electorate and the party programmes, as well as the style adopted by Berlusconi.only subscribers can see the full article

Starting from reflections on the success of populist parties in Europe, which have recently been part of the government in various countries, including Italy, this article discuss the challenge they involve for the fundamental principles of liberal democracy, which can be summed up in the principle of «limited (restrained) majority rule». By analysing some parts of a questionnaire circulated among members of the Northern league and the Swiss Svp we can evaluate the importance the question of immigration/«security» and «identity» questions like the defence of dialects and traditions have recently had in attracting some sectors of the electorate towards populist parties. On the basis of the questionnaire, the article also examines what the supporters of populist parties think of their actions on these topics when in government. In conclusion, the article claims that, while the concept of «representation » is compatible with populist ideology, the same cannot be said as regards the fundamental principles of liberal democracy.only subscribers can see the full article

The «parity» between capital and labour is the basis of the European social model, particularly the Nordic one. It ensures social representation, distinction of interests regarding identity and ideology, and a process of regulation of society and the economy. As representation is less pervasive in parity, this has allowed the new right to play on questions of fear, identity and anti-politics, presenting itself a champion of these questions, which are seen in terms of ethnic identity. But despite what is proclaimed, both by the national-populists and some sterile socio-political models, it was never the (mythological) Northern uniformity that produced the regulated social model of Nordic Countries, but the exact opposite: the social model has produced identity, inclusion and regulation. Inverting cause and effect is to misunderstand the Nordic countries and their populism.only subscribers can see the full article

In recent years many mayors have claimed the right to self-government as regards at the registry office residence of migrants. They had one very specific objective in this: restricting immigrant access to social rights. With the aim of regulating domicile, administrators have made use of a particular legal instrument: by-laws, which have been justified on the basis of a supposed increase of immigration in the area. As the essay will try to show, this policy of the mayors is a premise for acting forms of populism addressed to increase consensus amongst the italian local population, whose specific features will be looked at in detail.only subscribers can see the full article