Italian populism has hit a temporary roadblock with the Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement M5S) changing their populist tone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, with Salvini’s party the Lega in government it can open the door to populist rhetoric and further legitimize the problematic populist language the party used when in a governing coalition with just the M5S. Italy’s political landscape has been in a state of constant change, with what seems to be a new government after a new government, and all at the behest of Salvini and his desire to undermine the political institutions so he can lead a government. There are serious implications that come with inclusion of the Lega party in the governing coalition in the Consiglio dei Ministri (Council of Ministers). This further legitimizes the far-right party and their policy stances, especially their anti-immigration and anti-Muslim policies. One example of the extremly problematic rehtoric that the Lega party constantly uses comes form the Mayor of Cascina, Susanna Ceccardi who posted a cartoon on her Facebook page that depicted a young woman who was kicking a Muslim man, who was depicted in deragoatory manner, out of Europe (Bridge, 2020). This just goes to show how the Lega party in its roots is a populist party, they aim to exclude large swaths of the Italian population, Muslim Italians are the largest religious minority in Italy. Therefore we see the Lega party trying to exclude a large minority group and label them as not the “true Italian”. The League is one of the largest and most popular political parties in Italy, and language like this only helps propel their populist agenda to the voting citizens of Italy.
Action must be taken to hinder the rhetoric and policy the Lega party uses while also listening to the concerns of the voters that chose the Lega party. There are two viable options to counteract the rise of the Lega. One, the two other major political parties which are the Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement M5S ) and the Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) can exclude the populist Lega part from the governing coalition and still be in a position to govern without them. While Prime Minister Draghi has made the decision to include them in his Consiglio dei Ministri he can reverse his decision and exclude them and still have his comfortable governing coalition as the major parties on the left have said that in this past that this is an experiment worth trying for the sake of Italians (Zingaretti, 2020). It is great that they were able to do this in the name of Italy and still exclude the parties that are more extreme than the Lega but they should not have incorporated the Lega as a party too extreme to include in their governing coalition.
Others have said that totally excluding the populist party from the political sphere only helps to fuel their claims that their home country no longer cares about the “real” Italian (Muller, 2016). As Muller argues,we do owe an obligation to listen and engage the constituents that vote for populist parties, because they have valid concerns. If the M5S and PD were to completely ignore the populists it could lead to the Lega outperforming both parties in the next election which are currently set to take place sometime in 2023. This next election will be extremely consequential as a voter approved amendment will lower the number of deputies from 600 to 400 in the Italian lower house. This highlights the importance of not completely shutting out the concerns that voters of the Lega party bring forward, especially with the party having large popularity. The M5S and the PD have a great opportunity to address the immigration and European Union concerns that these voters have. If they are successful in addressing these concerns they run the chance of being able to completely ignore the racist and populist rhetoric of Salvini’s Lega party.
Italy is at an important crossroad in their political landscape. They can continue to further legitimize the Lega party by including them in a government or they can expel them from the governing coalition while addressing the concerns of the Lega’s constituents. Again, it is important to understand while individuals may not agree with the Lega’s constituents’ concerns they are still valid. There is much the two major parties can do to address their concerns like passing a sweeping immigration bill or reaching a compromise with the European Union on the main concerns the Lega voters bring forward or they can communicate to their constituents the importance of the European experiment . The two main parties can also work with other minor parties in the Italian Parliament, while it is symbolic and shows stability that the governing coalition is able to pull all major parties into a coalition, there are ample parties that Prime Minister Draghi can form a different governing coalition with. While the Lega party is not the main political entity leading the government, with its legitimization by the Movimento 5 Stelle it opens the possibility of the Lega one day being a party that leads a government.
References:
Britton, Bianca, and Livia Borghese. “Italian Parties Strike Deal for New Government in Blow to Salvini.” CNN, Cable News Network, 29 Aug. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/europe/italy-democratic-party-five-star-movement-coalition-intl.
Luca, Marino De. “The New Draghi Government and the Fate of Populism in Italy.” EUROPP, 24 Feb. 2021, blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/02/24/the-new-draghi-government-and-the-fate-of-populism-in-italy/.
Müller, Jan-Werner. What Is Populism? Penguin Books, 2017.
Team, Bridge Initiative. “Factsheet: THE LEAGUE (LEGA, LEGA NORD, THE NORTHERN LEAGUE).” Bridge Initiative, bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-the-league-lega-lega-nord-the-northern-league/.
Daniel,
You have a great point that governments should try their best to not support populist parties that aim to spread inflammatory rhetoric on vulnerable populations in Italy. You also nicely note the populist characteristics of the Lega party, mainly the us vs. them rhetoric and how the party claims to represent the “real” Italian. These two strategies are harmful to inclusiveness in democracy, but can you protect inclusiveness by excluding a specific political entity from policy making? I think this is a great point of research; scholars can look at how governments have successfully (or unsuccessfully) protected their inclusive democracy from populist parties. Maybe such research can provide recommendations for the Italian government when facing this issue in their upcoming elections. I hope this encourages you to dive deeper into this issue to see if this is a new trend in other Southern European countries. I thoroughly enjoyed your post!
I wonder what viable alternatives there are to engage populist parties that do have some legitimacy due to their ability to engage with constituents who often passionately vote for them. While it is reflexive to outright reject populist politicians that engage in rhetoric that is harmful and implicitly, or explicitly, exclusive in nature I think you have a good point that doing so would leave a large number of voters even angrier. Perceptions would make it seem that their concerns are being either ignored or outright dismissed, likely to fuel further political apathy for moderate political actors and lead them towards even more divisive parties and politicians. So, mitigated engagement might be the best solution while action is being taken to address the true underlying issues, which in Italy is addressing concerns over the state of the economy as larger portions of the population find themselves concerned over their future. The idea of economic uncertainty driving populist waves is rather simplistic but I believe are undoubtedly a large enough issue, where if it can be resolved in part would lead to much of the support for populist parties to dissipate.
I do agree that the Italian government should not support the Five Star Movement’s more inhumane ideology. Populist Parties like the Five Star Movement have also been a concern throughout Europe like the Dutch political party, the Party for Freedom, and the Alternative fur Deutschland in Germany. With many populist parties in Europe receiving a large percentage of the votes, governments struggle with addressing the concern of these voters. What other political parties in Europe can do however is address the concerns that these voters have in a humane and respectable way. For instance, many have seen immigration and migration as being bad economically for the country as migrants will take jobs away from locals. The government and parties can route this concern not by blaming migrants, but on employment and by promoting better economic prospects. Another aspect they can do is showing that the government cares about them to help remove the feeling that many feel ignored in their democracies. Addressing concerns in a humane and respectable way can help without having to concede to scapegoating groups in the population. I believe these governments should address the concerns of the voters and not the populist parties themselves.
Hello Daniel! Even when we don’t agree with a certain political party’s opinions and positions, you make a nice acknowledgment that the people behind such parties are likely to shrink even further away from a compromise if flat-out rejected from the political system. As hard as it may be to work together, finding a compromise and stable middle ground is very important for a nation’s longevity and future goals. While it would be great to say hatred has no place in politics, a sad truth exists that governing a nation is a complex web of economics, power, and leverage. Italy has always been a politicly intricate and unique example of the parliamentary system perhaps working a little too well. The goal of a parliament is to allow multiple parties and voices to be represented politically, and Italy is a great representative of this as they maintain a diverse set of political parties that are constantly vying for power. The Italian parliament historically has rather high legislative overturn and coalition requirements. Paired with a high voter turnout, ruling parties are sometimes upended after single terms and parties often fail to secure a majority, forcing them to rely on widespread coalition governments to legislate. You demonstrate this point well when laying out the options Italian legislators face moving forward in such a time of uncertainty. It will be interesting to see how the anti-immigrant and anti-Arab sentiments of the Lega party will be received moving forward and if their populist tendencies will win out.