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First published January 1996

Crisis of Parties and Change of Party System in Italy

Leonardo MorlinoView all authors and affiliations
Volume 2, Issue 1
https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068896002001001

Abstract

In the early 1990s, Italian democracy has entered a phase of farreaching change, particularly of parties and the party system. This article proposes an assessment of what has changed, and why, with specific reference to the most basic features of parties (electoral performance, name, symbol, splits and alliances) from a systemic perspective. Also, to check the depth of change, party organization, the emergence of new models of parties and the turnover of parliamentary leadership are analysed. Finally, the impact of the party crisis and changes on the party system is evaluated and the degree to which the party system has changed is assessed. The concluding remarks will suggest how changes in the party system are related to the wider crisis of Italian democracy over the recent period, and the possible choices of the leaders as regards the future party system.

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I would like to thank Roberto D'Alimonte and the two anonymous referees for their thoughtful comments.
1 Inconsistency is a catchword to mean the incongruence between the party as `supply' and the `demand' of sectors of civil society, those who previously supported the party and the new ones. That is, an inability to meet them through the party and, therefore, a growing gap and detachment between the two sides of political society and civil society.
2 Both in the national elections of 1983 and the municipal ones of 1985.
3 Of course, one of the main manifestations of the crisis is its declining electoral performance (to 26.6% in 1987 from 34.4% in 1976).
4 Actually, a new artificial form of anti-communism was rebuilt by Forza Italia in the 1994 electoral campaign; and it also survived later on.
5 The relationship between economic dissatisfaction and political dissatisfaction is shown by Lockerbie (1993) for 1983-4. The Eurobarometer surveys show that, during the period 1984-94, the average number of people who declare themselves `not very satisfied' and `not at all satisfied' in replying to the question `Are you satisfied with the way democracy works?' is 73.2 percent in Italy and 44.7 percent in EC countries (except Italy).
6 Again the decline of electoral performance (as a percentage) demonstrates the crisis: 38.7 (1976), 38.3 (1979), 32.9 (1983), 34.3 (1987) and 29.7 (1992), and 15.8 (1994) if PPI and Patto Segni are added (see Table 1).
7 This is the well-known notion of Carl Friedrich.
8 In fact, in the coalition there were Forza Italia, MSI-AN, and two smaller groups, the Centro Cristiano Democratico and the Unione di Centro Democratico (see Figure 1), as well as the Northern League.
9 For details on the electoral laws see the article in this issue (Katz) devoted to this topic, and D'Alimonte and Chairamonte (1993).
10 Let it be recalled here that the local by-elections in important towns in June and November-December 1993, held under the new majoritarian law approved in March 1993, had an immediate polarizing impact, and their results, which on the whole were favourable to a leftist coalition, also contributed to Berlusconi's decision to enter politics.
11 The following discussion is based upon research conducted by a group under the direction of Leonardo Morlino. Preliminary (pre-1992) results of this research have been published in Katz and Mair (see Bardi and Morlino, 1994). A more complete report, also covering the period 1992-5, will be published in Morlino (forthcoming).
12 This is simply the ratio between the total estimated membership of all parties and the electorate at the moment of the elections.
13 This important element is only mentioned here, but it deserves to be discussed in greater depth. The key point is that since at least 1983 the presence of mass parties in civil society has been gradually substituted by the role of television. For example, Ricolfi (1994) shows how in the 1994 elections a relevant percentage of the vote shifted toward the centre-right alliance because of the influence of television.
14 This is the measure suggested by Duverger (1951); that is, the ratio between the membership of a party and the votes won by the same party in the electoral year.
15 But in June a much debated project of internal reform was proposed by Milanese leaders to give a higher role to the members and membership, and overcome the internal inconsistencies of the organization.
16 It is also worthwhile mentioning the organizational changes in the PSI, which placed the party entirely in the hands of its leader, Craxi, during the 1980s. Eventually, this became one of the causes of the abrupt breakdown of the party when Craxi was involved in Mani Pulite. See Di Virgilio (1996).
17 Note that these data refer to the majoritarian seats; with regard to the PR seats, the newly elected are 54.1 percent in PDS, 85.7 in Forza Italia and 59.1 in MSI-AN. This suggests that the proportional lists were also used to save the old leaders.
18 Almost 11 percent of MPs belonging to the PPI are members of Catholic organizations. This confirms the support of the Church for PPI and lends greater justification to its definition as a neodenominational party (see above).
19 Mattina (1994: 575) also stresses that interest organizations are officially neutral in the electoral contest.
20 Socio-economic status is very relevant for 73 percent of the MPs of Forza Italia (Lanza, 1995: table 14).
21 The national association of entrepreneurs (Confindustria), however, did not openly give Berlusconi support and maintained an official position of neutrality. This support for him was more manifest at the rank and file level, above all, at the post-electoral meetings of the entrepreneurs' association.
22 A high turnover usually implies a new elite with poor knowledge of the actual working of institutions and, at the same time, of the problems that need to be solved. This is especially relevant in the Italian case, given the high salience of parliamentary committees in the decisional arenas. Consequences of this may be high decisional inefficacy and radicalization. Both elements have occurred since March 1994, but the causal relationship is difficult to prove. On radicalization see also below.
23 Contrary to what some commentators have written, the adaptation to change of some parties (PCI to PDS and MSI to AN), the crisis and breakdown of others (DC, PSI, PSDI, PLI, PRI), and the formation and growth of new actors (Northern League and Forza Italia) do not permit addressing the question of whether the party system is the same as earlier. As suggested in the text, the question is whether an equivalent party system has emerged. The previous party system was considered a case of polarized pluralism (Sartori, 1976: 131-73), characterized by a high number of parties (more than five) and high ideological distance, and more specifically by anti-system parties, bilateral opposition, centre placement of one or of a group of parties, high polarization, centrifugal competition, and other less relevant and connected features. But at least since the second half of the 1970s, the system began changing (see also Farneti, 1983).
24 The impact of the 1994 elections on the number of parties is also carefully discussed by D'Alimonte and Bartolini (1995).
25 The crisis of the Berlusconi cabinet (April-December 1994) was caused by a noconfidence motion tabled by the Northern League.
26 The definition of anti-system party is that suggested by Sartori (1976: 133): a party which `undermines the legitimacy of the regime it opposes' and `would not change - if it could - the government, but the very system of government'.
27 They changed their minds in a few hours, maybe because they were afraid of internal criticism and attacks from the extreme left.
28 The total volatility is partially explained by the presence of new parties. However, analysis of the 1994 elections shows more precisely how the competition is much higher in the south and in the districts of Senate vis-à-vis the Lower Chamber. See Bartolini and D'Alimonte (1994: 649).
29 Here I make a distinction between polarization, as increasing aggregation around electoral poles (if there are two, it is bipolarization), and radicalization, as increasing distance among political positions in a stronger conflict. When the two phenomena overlap, a tendency towards polarized pluralism (see n. 21) is set in motion. Sartori (1976: 131ff.) does not make this distinction since he does not need to do so. Conversely, as shown in the text, in the transition from polarized pluralism to moderate pluralism (and vice versa), or to neopolarized pluralism, the difference seems useful.
30 The poles have been measured simply by placing the various parties, with their electoral strength, on a 10-point scale on the grounds of their traditional self-placement along a left-right continuum.
31 The electoral history of the Fifth French Republic is evidence of this.

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Published In

Volume 2, Issue 1
Pages: 5 - 30
Article first published: January 1996
Issue published: January 1996

Keywords

  1. elite turnover
  2. Italy
  3. party crisis
  4. party organization
  5. party system

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