Italy’s Love Affair with Populism: From Berlusconi to Salvini
Italy has a surprising weakness for populism à la Trump. It began over twenty-five years ago with Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party and is still going strong with the extreme-right populist Lega leader Matteo Salvini. Berlusconi and Salvini
ITALY: WHAT THE NEW GOVERNMENT MEANS FOR EUROPE
On 31 May, Italian politics took an unexpected, spectacular turn. President Mattarella approved the very government he had vetoed – as was his constitutional right – four days earlier. Now the two big winners of the March elections, Luigi Di
Italy 2018: Politics Shaped by Social Media
Italian politics is notoriously complex and unfathomable. One reason is that Italy often ventures in uncharted waters, foreshadowing the future. Today, Italy is the first big democracy in the West where social media gave birth to a leading party, the Five
Elections in Italy: Why They Matter for Europe and the World
Imagine the following result from the March 4 vote in Italy: either the populist Five Star Movement led by young Luigi Di Maio (he’s 31) or the conservative right coalition, led by Berlusconi (he’s 81) and firebrand Salvini, gets an