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Italian discontent and right‐wing populism: determinants, geographies, patterns

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  • Dante Di Matteo
  • Ilaria Mariotti

Abstract

The geographical patterns of the Italian electoral discontent have been strengthened by the European elections of 2019. The growing populist sentiments have been fuelled by the political programmes focusing on national‐popular issues, which have pushed the escalation of the right‐wing sovereign/nationalist political parties. While the literature has stressed that long‐term socioeconomic structural decline is among the main reasons feeding the rise of the European distrust, little is yet known about the micro‐scale populist voting patterns in Italy. Through a parametric approach with linear models, the main determinants of discontent, at municipal level, are revealed and, specifically, it results that (un)employment, long‐term cultural change and immigration are the main drivers of the right‐wing populism intensity growth in the European elections of 2014 and 2019. Las pautas geográficas del descontento electoral italiano se han visto reforzadas por las elecciones europeas de 2019. El auge de los sentimientos populistas ha sido alimentado por los programas políticos centrados en temas populares y nacionales, que han causado una escalada de los partidos políticos de derecha en pro de la soberanía y los nacionalismos. Aunque la literatura ha subrayado que el declive estructural socioeconómico a largo plazo es una de las principales razones del aumento de la desconfianza en Europa, se sabe muy poco sobre los patrones de voto populista de microescala en Italia. Se empleó un enfoque paramétrico con modelos lineales para revelar los principales determinantes del descontento a nivel municipal y, específicamente, se observó que el (des)empleo, el cambio cultural a largo plazo y la inmigración son los principales impulsores del aumento de la intensidad del populismo de derechas en las elecciones europeas de 2014 y 2019. イタリアにおける選挙に対する不満の地理的パターンは、2019年の欧州議会議員選挙によって強固になった。ポピュリズム的な感情の高まりは、右派の至上主義/民族主義的政党の台頭を促進した国家民族的な問題に焦点を当てた政治プログラムによって促進された。研究では長期的な社会経済的構造の衰退が、ヨーロッパの不信感を増大させる主な理由であることが強調しされているが、イタリアのミクロ規模のポピュリスト的投票パターンについてはほとんど知られていない。線形モデルを用いたパラメトリックアプローチにより、地方自治体レベルでの不満の主な決定要因が明らかになり、具体的には、雇用 (失業)、長期的な文化的変化及び外国からの移民が2014年と2019年の欧州議会議員選挙における右派ポピュリズムの急激な成長の主な要因であるとの結果が得られた。

Suggested Citation

  • Dante Di Matteo & Ilaria Mariotti, 2021. "Italian discontent and right‐wing populism: determinants, geographies, patterns," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 371-396, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rgscpp:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:371-396
    DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12350
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    1. Di Tommaso, Marco R. & Prodi, Elena & Di Matteo, Dante & Mariotti, Ilaria, 2022. "Local public spending, electoral consensus, and sustainable structural change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 435-453.

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