Mapping contemporary Catholic politics in Italy

Constellations, 2017

The paper is divided in five sections: 1) The origin of the secular-religious cleavage from the Italian unitary state to the end of “Prima Repubblica”, where we will first try to set out the historical and genetic framework which characterized the evolution of the Italian political system, from the birth of the unitary Italian state to the end of the so-called First Republic. We will analyze the different phases about the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Italian political system, paying particular attention to the dynamics of the Italian party system until the eve of so-called Second Re-public. From this analysis emerges as the unity of Catholics in politics, despite being a constant issue of the last century, has never been the only strategic option available to the Catholic Church to defend its values and interests. 2)Theoretical framework, where we explore the dimension of the solidarity concept in the main political traditions In this section, we will first try t...

2016

This article aims to correlate the political rather than the pastoral action of Cardinal Camillo Ruini with the rise and consolidation of the politician Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 2007, set in the context of the major changes that occurred in the Catholic Church and in Italian republican politics during the 1980s and 1990s. The main theme is an ‘instrumental interaction’ between the two systems, Ruinismo and Berlusconismo, which only coincided at the level of political opportunity and gave rise to important synergies between two men who otherwise had nothing in common.

Italian Politics, 2006

Arturo Carlo Jemolo wrote Church and State during the Last Hundred Years in 1948. Jemolo, an insightful scholar of a relationship that has been scrutinized from all angles, continually updated his "long-seller," publishing fresh editions at various points. It was even reprinted after his death. By this time, historiographical knowledge of the single segments of that experience had increased in significant ways. Yet there is one reason in particular that explains this book's resistance to both the progress of time and advances in research and illustrates why it still deserves our attention today. Jemolo had intuited the broad chronological dimension that was and still remains indispensable in order to understand the relationship between church and state in Italy. If we did not precisely place the phenomena on a wide parabola, we would, in fact, risk confusing episodes with tendencies, outcomes with processes-and, in the end, become prisoners (if I may pun on the subtitle of the newspaper Osservatore Romano) of a "political and religious daily" life in which the ephemeral becomes memorable, and vice versa. Ever more so today, we need to proceed with caution in evaluating the aspects of the life of the Catholic Church that significantly influenced the course of Italian politics during 2005. The list of memorabilia should be sorted according to less spontaneous criteria than those that normally govern the daily news. Above all, we should at least attempt to reposition the processes in motion in a broader framework, which, Notes for this chapter begin on page 198.

Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 1997

This article analyses the political and social changes that occurred in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s in ways that bring economic and sociological models together in a historical perspective. It argues that the rise of the new Right following the disintegration of the Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party was the result not only of the changed international situation (which was none the less important) but of the changes that had been taking place within the Italian political parties and the growing importance of neo-patrimonial tendencies over the previous fifteen years. Increasingly open forms of corruption (on the part of the political classes rather than the industrial bourgeoisie, even though they too were to some extent accomplices) are interpreted as a sign of the crisis and disintegration of the political system that had taken shape in the postwar period. Hence the nexus of anguish and politics for both the upper classes and the rest of Italian society that has become one of the most important features of the situation in Italy today.

European Societies, 2018

Between 2013 and 2016, a broad range of Catholic groups following pro-life and pro-family agendas has conducted a large anti-gender campaign, whose main result was the definition of a Catholic anti-gender movement in Italy. The anti-gender movement, opposed to the approval of the bill on civil unions for same-sex couples and the introduction of gender education programs in schools, has grown in popularity, becoming a source of participation and protest for politically committed Catholic and social conservative actors. The emergence and consolidation of the movement has marked a new phase of political Catholicism characterized, on the one hand, by an intensification of protest and lobbying activities in the public and political arenas and, on the other, by a descent into the electoral arena of a part of the movement with the constitution of an autonomous political subject, the People of the Family party. This article proposes to analyze the dynamics of politicization of the anti-gender cause, with the aim of advancing the argument that long-lasting dilemmas are still affecting Catholic politics concerning the best strategies to combine religious coherence, political representation and consensus for the Italian Catholic militancy in an increasingly complex post-secular society.

Bullettin of The Transilvania University of Brasovn. n. 2/2013

Italy is in a transitional phase to a new party system, which will probably lead to a different method of institutional functioning. This essay illustrates the transition from the Berlusconi Government to Monti Government end after to the "Grand coalition" Government. This step opens an unprecedented phase of the Italian democracy which seems to mark a break with the characteristics that the political and institutional life had taken in recent years. Although it is too early to describe the characteristics of the new phase, we can highlight some points which justify the assessment of the discontinuity. Among the main features of institutional life in the era of Berlusconism, can be mentioned the charismatic leadership, the context of heightened corporatism of the political class, the mortification of the Parliament and the transfer of its legislative powers to the Government, the constant aggression against Constitution and Fundamental Rights, the attempt to impose ethical views by the majority

The volume isn’t just an historical “summa” about the Italian experiences, by constrast it hopefully represents starting point for theoretical, methodological and fact-finding developements. This result is achieved by a historical and concettual dissertation of the discipline which, since its foundation, had to face three main challenges: the antiempirical culture, the so-thought “secondary” reputation of Politics and the accademic resistance. However, despite these difficulties, as the authors underline, the Italian Political Science was successful in its instituzionalization and integration with the other Social Sciences.

Italian Study Library Group Bulletin, 2019

Contemporary Italian Politics, 2015

The goal of this special issue is to analyse how the Italian political system has changed in the last 20 years and, depending on the outcome of this analysis, to (re)locate Italy in the context of contemporary democracies. How different is Italian democracy today compared to the democracy of the so-called First Republic? The answer may be different depending on the indicators considered. In order to choose the main dimensions to focus on, we believe Lijphart's multidimensional design may help. Therefore, we explore the main structural changes that have taken place in Italy over the last 20 years by examining, on the one hand, the transformations on the first Lijphartian dimensiontransformations that tend towards the majoritarian poleand, on the other, the evolution of some indicators belonging to the second dimension, ones that push Italy towards the consensus pole, though more ambiguously. More specifically, we analyse the never-ending attempts to reform the electoral system, the transformations in the party system and the evolution of the relationship between the government and parliamentary opposition. Furthermore, we explore the variation in the distribution of decision-making power among national, supranational and subnational (regional) bodies and the new role of the President of the Republic as an increasingly important counterbalancing power. In doing so, we attempt to understand how Italian democracy has changed in recent years and where Italy can be placed in the context of contemporary democracies.