Demythologising the petite bourgeoisie: The Italian case

The political volatility and economic instability of the petite bourgeoisie are taken for granted in most political and sociological analysis. Viewed as a pivotal force in historic and contemporary movements of the extreme right, it is widely believed to exercise a constant ‘threat’ potential, thus guaranteeing its protection throughout the post‐war period — above all in the Italian context where small economic entrepreneurs persist in substantial numbers. Using a variety of evidence, including electoral and survey materials, this article counterposes to the ‘pathological’ interpretation of the petite bourgeoisie an alternative profile, one that stresses its confidence, its stability of allegiance and its commitment to centrism.     

The politics of neighbourhood institutions: The Italian case

This account is part of a larger research effort which is aimed at evaluating the significance for Italian society of the introduction of new government institutions at the neighbourhood level and of identifying the circumstances under which they are likely to be promoted and to succeed. The article looks at which types of neighbourhood government have been instituted and which cities in Italy have taken advantage of the provisions following the national legislation on neighbourhoods passed in 1976. An examination of conceptual models of neighbourhood government, secondary and interview data relating to the debate on the law, and neighbourhood electoral data are brought to bear on the two questions.     

Bureaucratic institutional design: the case of the Italian NHS

We propose a model where a regional government’s choice of the number of bureaucratic agencies operating in a region depends upon the degree of substitutability and complementarity of the bureaucratic services being demanded. We show that, if the government perceives the citizens’ demand as a demand for substitutable services, it will choose provision by two independent agencies. If the government perceives the citizens’ demand as a demand for complementary services, it will choose provision by a single consolidated agency. Exogenous shocks to the number of citizens amplify these incentives. Evidence from the Italian National Health Service (NHS) supports this hypothesis. Results show a positive effect of proxies of substitutable services on the number of regional local health authorities and a negative effect of proxies of complementary services. The major immigration amnesties, taken as shocks to the number of citizens entitled to the service, magnify these effects.     

The role of memory in populist discourse: the case of the Italian Second Republic

Cento Bull's paper takes as its starting point Ernesto Laclau's and Chantal Mouffe's conceptualization of populism as counter-hegemonic, and argues, with reference to the Italian case, that populism not only takes the form of a rejection of the establishment and political elites, but also entails a construction of ‘the people’ that requires, as well as the development of empty signifiers as shown by Laclau, also the deployment of common myths based on a collective memory of an imagined past. Cento Bull therefore argues, in line with Ritchie Savage, that the role of memory in populist discourse has been underestimated. Specifically, many populist movements and leaders engage in a fundamental redefinition of who constitutes ‘the people’ accompanied by mistrust and demonization of the Other, which is predicated upon (and justified with recourse to) a reimagining of the nation's and/or democracy's ‘founding moment’. Furthermore, many populist movements make use of a political rhetoric revolving around the ‘anti-subversive impulse’ and aimed at instilling fear and a sense of being under threat.     

第三阶段维特根斯坦哲学当中的确定性

文章着重从《论确定性》(On Certainty)这本书出发,以"生活形式"为研究对象,从哲学语法、轴心命题两个方面来论证生活形式当中的确定性和不确定性的去处,同时在无序列的生活形式当中填充对世界图像的后现代理解。在语言描述和现实世界中间找到一条行动的路径,从日常生活出发以达到一种非本体论的确定性。     

Conservatism between theory and practice: The case of migration to Europe

This article explores the neglected relationship between conservatism as political theory and conservatism as political practice using the example of recent immigration to Europe. A cursory glance at how European politicians have responded to migration challenges suggests that they roughly divide into an open‐arm, leftist ‘liberal’ camp and a right‐wing ‘conservative’ one. The situation, however, is more complex. This article engages with the resources of conservative theory to argue that there are many distinct conservative theoretical positions for any one policy point. Using contemporary migration patterns as a case study, the findings suggest that Conservative parties have not borrowed much from conservative theory in its variety of incarnations. In fact, conservative theory can buttress a course of action that is generous toward migrants and at odds with the claims of right‐wing populist movements. While certain strands of conservatism imagine a homogenous people, there are others that are no less pro‐pluralism than liberal theories, and sometimes more so.     

The Scotish National Party and the Italian

Abstract. As European regional autonomy parties, the Scottish National Party and the Italian Lega Nord present important similarities in the way they appeal to voters. Both parties, too, have recently been favoured by very similar social and political changes. Yet, of the two parties' recent electoral advances, that of the Lega has been by far the more striking. This can be explained in terms of the relative inability of the Lega 's main rival, the Democrazia Cristiana , to adapt to its challenge. The Scottish National Party's main rival, the Labour Party, is better able to adapt owing to the long-standing institutionalisation of regional conflict in Britain.     

A theory of predatory welfare state and citizen welfare: the French case

Public Choice - In this paper, we argue that the welfare state is an outcome of modern mass (total) warfare. The total war economy requires the participation of all citizens, erasing the...     

The Italian budgetary process: Political and institutional constraints

The Italian budgetary process requires constant interaction between executive and legislature. As a result budgetary policy is a reflection of Italian legislative activity in general. Time‐consuming negotiations and compromises are required between a wide range of political interests. Coherent and consistent economic policy‐making is, in these circumstances, difficult to achieve.     

E-victimization and e-predation theory as the dominant aggressive communication: the case of cyber bullying

ABSTRACT

The paper will focus on the identification of several key criteria in e-discourses via the constitution of e-images of the Anonymous arising from e-medias (Facebook, twitter, Snapchat, WeChat, etc.) with a specific focus on youngsters and their (ab)uses of these communication channels to facilitate digital predation, and so to lead to e-victimization. I will explain the specifics of e-victimization discourse taking into consideration its triadic dimension. I will then be able to conceptualize a dominant e-communication and the e-victimization theory around central ideas of dynamics of violence, gender discrimination and power abuse leading to a semio-sphere with a deep focus on anonymity, exposure, frequency, and insecurity as indicators of collective e-delinquency and proneness to e-victimization.     

An economic theory of economic analysis: the case of the School of Salamanca

Public Choice - The School of Salamanca often is identified as the first economic tradition in the history of the “dismal science”. Its members anticipated principles later developed by...     

Pursuing the common goods: An economic theory of collective action among NGOs in transnational advocacy

This article integrates previous research on NGO behaviour with economic theory on collective action to create a generalizable and predictive model of advocacy campaign growth. It identifies three types of goods which NGOs may pursue in advocacy: unlimited, non-rival (public) goods; rival and excludable (private) goods; and rival but non-excludable goods. It then models an individual NGO’s decision to (not) join an existing advocacy campaign using a cost-benefit analysis conditioned by the presence or absence of competition for the good(s) sought by the NGO. This model of individual behaviour forms the basis for predicting collective action among NGOs with varying cost structures and pursuing a variety of rival and non-rival goods. The theory is illustrated using two cases of NGOs campaigning on World Bank policy.     

The limits of local citizenship: administrative borders within the Italian municipalities

This article explores residency, a form of municipal membership that plays a strategic role in Italy. Residency is a formal status and a means to have access to rights. Therefore, it is a sort of local citizenship that, at least in part, equalises citizens and non-citizens. Due to its strategic role, many local authorities have paid serious attention to it recently. Municipalities have illegally tightened the requirements provided for by national laws for obtaining the status of resident or introduced new requirements. Stressing the different mechanisms of exclusion from residency, this article explains that they often work as administrative borders. These are bureaucratic barriers that, by denying residency, aspire to regulate, symbolically and sometimes materially, the composition of the people living within municipal territories and to redistribute rights between ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ individuals. As such, administrative borders fragment individual statuses and provoke an increase in civic stratification.