Download full text
(129.8Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-447228
Exports for your reference manager
Democracy at stake
[journal article]
Abstract Governmental instability, though a persistent feature of Italian politics, cannot be interpreted as an indicator that there always was a crisis of democracy in Italy. Very often there were, and there are, problems of functioning: crises within democracy. This article argues that Italian parties have... view more
Governmental instability, though a persistent feature of Italian politics, cannot be interpreted as an indicator that there always was a crisis of democracy in Italy. Very often there were, and there are, problems of functioning: crises within democracy. This article argues that Italian parties have been responsible for the appearance, the existence, and the evolution of Italian democracy. The collapse of the party system and the disappearance of all major parties between 1992 and 1994 have strongly and negatively affected the working of Italian democracy. The electoral system has been twice reformed with very poor results. There is an on-going institutional transition that is the cause and consequence of an impressive reallocation of political and institutional powers among all-important institutions: the Presidency of the Republic, the government, Parliament, and the judicial system mainly, the Constitutional Court. Unless Italian parties restructure themselves and a decent bipolar competition redefines the party system, the functioning of Italian democracy will be "at stake" and its quality will remain unsatisfactory.... view less
Keywords
party system; presidential election; institution; political stability; government; democracy; Italy; party
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Document language
English
Publication Year
2013
Page/Pages
p. 605-616
Journal
Studia Politica: Romanian Political Science Review, 13 (2013) 4
ISSN
1582-4551
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works