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Political leadership in Italy: towards a plebiscitary democracy?∗

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Mark Donovan
Mark Donovan*
Affiliation:
School of European Studies, University of Wales Cardiff, PO Box 908, Cardiff, CF1 3YQ, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

Following the collapse of the ‘First Republic’, political leadership has become both more technocratic and more charismatic. Constitutional reform of a presidential type, which would reinforce this dual trend, has come near to being effected. This paper argues that organizational changes in the main political parties bring them close to being able to participate in such a system. It also argues that a plebiscitary form of constitutional democracy, namely some form of presidentialism, could reinforce the consolidation of the nascent two-bloc party system. Finally, it argues that a political system based on two competitive party blocs could be of great benefit to the Italian polity.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 3 , Issue 2: Charisma and the cult of personality in modern Italy , November 1998 , pp. 281 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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References

Notes

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