Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T09:23:06.955Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The evolution of party funding in Italy: a case of inclusive cartelisation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2016

Eugenio Pizzimenti
Eugenio Pizzimenti*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Sciences, University of Pisa
*
*Email: eugenio.pizzimenti@unipi.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the Italian public funding regime, in the light of the assumptions of the cartel party thesis. In the mid-1990s, the debate on party and party system change was revitalised by R. Katz and P. Mair (1995), who introduced the concept of the ‘cartel party’ as a means to study the increasing influence of the state on party politics. Among the main analytical dimensions of the cartel party argument, the system-level variables have received little attention with respect to the Italian case. In what follows I try to find out empirical evidence for the hypothesised changes in the relationship between parties and the state and in the patterns of inter-party competition. I will analyse the trends of the law-making process in the domain of party funding (1948–2014), by combining these observations with data on parties’ reliance on state funds and party collusive behaviour.

Italian summary

L'obiettivo di questo contributo è analizzare le triaettorie dell'evoluzione del regime di finanziamento pubblico, in Italia, alla luce degli assunti della teoria del cartel party. Nel corso degli anni Novanta, il dibattito sui processi di mutamento dei sistemi e delle organizzazioni di partito è stato rivitalizzato da R. Katz e P. Mair (1995), che hanno introdotto il concetto di ‘partito cartellizzato’ allo scopo di studiare la crescente influenza dello Stato sui partiti e sul loro sistema di relazioni. Tra le principali dimensioni analitiche della teoria del cartel party, le variabili di livello sistemico hanno ricevuto una minore attenzione con riferimento al caso italiano. In quanto segue cercherò di individuare le evidenze empiriche a sostegno dei mutamenti ipotizzati nelle relazioni tra i partiti e lo Stato e a livello di competizione interpartititca. Analizzerò in particolare le tendenze del processo di law-making nel settore del finanziamento pubblico, combinando queste osservazioni con dati relativi alla dipendenza dei partiti dai fondi pubblici e al prevalere di comportamenti di tipo collusivo.

Keywords

cartel partypublic fundingparty competitioncollusion
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 71 - 85
Copyright
© 2016 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bardi, L., Ignazi, P. and Massari, O.. 2007. I partiti italiani. Milan: UBE.Google Scholar
Bianco, A. 2001. Il finanziamento della politica in Italia. Milan: Giuffrè Editore.Google Scholar
Biezen, I. van. 2004. ‘Political Parties as Public Utilities’. Party Politics 10 (6): 701–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biezen, I. van, Mair, P., and Poguntke, T.. 2011. ‘Going, Going,...Gone? The Decline of Party Membership in Contemporary Europe’. European Journal of Political Research 51 (1): 24–56.Google Scholar
Biezen, I. van, and Kopecky, P.. 2014. ‘The Cartel Party and the State: Party-State Linkages in European Democracies’. Party Politics 20 (2): 170–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biondi, F. 2012. Il finanziamento pubblico dei partiti politici. Milan: Giuffrè Editore.Google Scholar
Bobba, G., and Seddone, A.. 2014. ‘Antipolitics on the Agenda: Issues and Leaders in the Mainstream Media Coverage during the 2013 Italian General Election Campaign’. Comunicazione Politica 14 (1): 115–132.Google Scholar
Calise, M. 1994. Dopo la partitocrazia. L’Italia tra modelli e realtà. Turin: Einaudi.Google Scholar
Casas-Zamora, K. 2005. Paying for Democracy: Political Finance and State Funding for Parties. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Cotta, M., and Isernia, P., eds. 1996. Il gigante dai piedi di argilla. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
D’Alimonte, R. 2007. “Il nuovo sistema elettorale. Dal collegio uninominale al premio di maggioranza.” In Proporzionale ma non solo, edited by R. D’Alimonte, and A. Chiaramonte. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Detterbeck, K. 2005. ‘Cartel Parties in Western Europe?”. Party Politics 11 (2): 173–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Mascio, F. 2012. Partiti e Stato in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Di Mascio, F., and Piccio, D.. 2015. ‘La regolazione dei partiti’. Rivista Trimestrale di Diritto Pubblico, Anno LXV, Fasc. 2:379–429.Google Scholar
Farrell, D., and Webb, P.. 2002. “Political Parties as Campaign Organizations.” In Parties Without Partisans: Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies, edited by R. J. Dalton, and M. P. Wattenberg. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Galli, G. 2007. Mezzo secolo di DC. Milan: Rizzoli.Google Scholar
GRECO (Group of States Against Corruption). 2012. Evaluation Report on Italy. Transparency of Party Funding. Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco/evaluations/round3/GrecoEval3(2011)7_Italy_Two_EN.pdf Google Scholar
Gunther, R., Montero, J. R., and Linz, J.J.. 2002. Political Parties. Old Concepts and New Challenges Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ignazi, P. 2002. Il potere dei partiti. Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Ignazi, P., Bardi, L., and Massari, O.. 2010. ‘Party Organisational Change in Italy (1991–2006)’. Modern Italy 15 (2): 197–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, R. S., and Mair, P.. 1993. ‘The Evolution of Party Organizations in Europe: the Three Faces of Party Organization’. American Review of Politics 14 (4): 593–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, R., and Mair, P.. 1995. ‘Changing Models of Party Organisation and Party Democracy: the Emergence of the Cartel Party’. Party Politics 1 (1): 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, R., and Mair, P.. 2009. ‘The Cartel Party Thesis Revisited’. Perspective on Politics 7 (4): 753–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingdon, J. 1984. Agenda, Alternatives and Public Policies. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Koss, M. 2011. The Politics of Party Funding. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Leonardi, R., and Wertman, D. A.. 1989. Italian Christian Democracy. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luther, K. R., and Müller-Rommel, F., eds. 2002. Political Parties in the New Europe. Political and Analytical Challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mair, P. 1997. Party System Change: Approaches and Interpretations. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Musumeci, T. S. 1999. Il costo della politica ed il finanziamento ai partiti. Padua: CEDAM.Google Scholar
Nassmacher, K., H. 2009. The Funding of Party Competition. Baden-Baden: Nomos.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pacifici, G. 1983. Il costo della democrazia. Rome: CADMO Editore.Google Scholar
Pacini, M. C. 2009. ‘Public Funding of Political Parties in Italy’. Modern Italy 14 (2): 183–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pacini, M. C., and Piccio, D.. 2012. ‘Party Regulation in Italy and its Effects’. The Legal Regulation of Political Parties, Working Paper 26: http://www.partylaw.leidenuniv.nl/uploads/wp2612.pdf Google Scholar
Panebianco, A. 1982. Modelli di partito. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Pasquino, G. 1995. “Partitocrazia.” In La politica italiana. Dizionario critico 1945–1995, edited by G. Pasquino, 341–353. Rome-Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Pasquino, G. 2002. Il sistema politico italiano. Bologna: Bononia University Press.Google Scholar
Pempel, T. J., ed. 1990. Uncommon Democracies: the One Dominant Party Regime. Ithaca: Cornel University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piccio, D. R. 2014. ‘A Self-interested Legislator? Party Regulation in Italy’. South European Society and Politics 19 (1): 135–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierre, J., Svåsand, L., L. and Widfeldt, A.. 2000. ‘State Subsidies to Political Parties: Confronting Rhetoric with Reality’. West European Politics 23 (3): 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pizzimenti, E., and Ignazi, P.. 2011. ‘Finanziamento pubblico e mutamenti organizzativi nei partiti italiani’. Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica Anno XLI (2): 199–235.Google Scholar
Sartori, G. 1976. Parties and Party Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Scarrow, S. 2006a. Beyond Party Members: Changing Approaches to Partisan Mobilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Scarrow, S. 2006b. ‘Party Subsidies and the Freezing of Party Competition: Do Cartel Mechanisms Work?” West European Politics 29 (4): 619–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scarrow, S., and Burcu, G.. 2010. ‘Declining Members, Changing Members. European Political Party Members in a New Era’. Party Politics 16 (6): 832–843.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scoppola, P. 1996. La repubblica dei partiti. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Webb, P., Farrell, D., and Holliday, I., eds. 2002. Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar