{"id":14069,"date":"2016-08-30T12:07:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T10:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/?p=14069"},"modified":"2022-10-17T12:10:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T10:10:12","slug":"here-to-stay-populism-in-italy-and-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/here-to-stay-populism-in-italy-and-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Here to stay? Populism in Italy and Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Italy has a long history of populist parties. However, with the 5 Stars Movement a new, somewhat peculiar actor entered the scene. What form does its populism take, particularly in relation to the Northern League? And how does Italian populism compare to the recent rise of the Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD) in Germany?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe does not seem to be able to avoid populism. Even Germany, one of the few countries where populist parties have not registered any electoral success over the past two decades, is now confronted with the emergence of the movement Pegida and the rise of the party Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD).If successful, populism represents a rather new phenomenon in Germany, whilst populist waves have regularly occurred in the Italian political system since the end of the Second World War, and even earlier. As a matter of fact, Italy has been considered an ideal stage for the insurgence of populist parties and movements during the so-called Second Republic (a term which denotes Italy from 1992 onwards).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To account in any detail for the reasons for the Italian development is beyond the scope of this article. Instead, the current forms of populism in Italy shall be analysed and subsequently compared to the German case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right-wing populism in Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion of the Fascist legacy \u2013 which was very much influenced by Mussolini\u2019s populist conception of the relation between the leader and the masses \u2013 represents only the beginning of a longer debate on populism that reached its zenith after the beginning of the political career of the television tycoon Silvio Berlusconi and his party, Forza Italia. After the withdrawal of the last Berlusconi government in 2011, new forms of populism, along with new individual and collective populist actors, have emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The typical right wing anti-\u00e9lite and xenophobic populism is represented by the Northern League (Lega Nord). The Northern League combines its traditional anti-elite appeal with an evident xenophobic and Anti-Islamic rhetoric. Anti-immigration stances have always represented one of the core issues of the party. Since the change of the party\u2019s leadership from the Northern League founder, Umberto Bossi, to the current young leader, Matteo Salvini, they constitute the leading message of the party. The abandonment of the traditional Northern centered request for federalism or secession of the Italian Northern regions has coincided with the call for a homogeneous community and the relevant fight against illegal immigration and the \u201crefugee invasion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Euroscepticism is also part of the Northern League populist recipe, and slogans for the abandonment of the Euro are used as a reinforcing argument in the disdaining description of the EU elites and the EU bureaucracy. With its ethnocentric and xenophobic appeal to the people, the Northern League can be understood as the typical example of right wing populism. The recent results of the Austrian presidential elections in May 2016 show the attractiveness of this form of populism in Western European countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the left-right cleavage? The 5 Stars Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Northern League\u2019s populism is not the only form of a direct appeal to the people in Italy, as another form of populism has emerged in Italy during the last few years: The unexpected success of the 5 Stars Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle) in the 2013 general elections (25% of the votes) points to a rich populist reservoir within the Italian electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Created by the famous comedian Beppe Grillo as an internet blog aimed at denouncing political and social scandals, the M5S does not have any problem in presenting itself as the harbour for the disenchanted citizens, dissatisfied with the Italian parties and, more in general, its economic, social and cultural elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grillo\u2019s appeal to the people entails classic populist elements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n