{"title":"Street-level Bureaucrats and Coping Mechanisms.The Unexpected Role of Italian Judges in Asylum Policy Implementation","authors":"C. Dallara, Alice Lacchei","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2021.1956161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2021.1956161","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article aims to open the black box of the asylum determination process, focusing on asylum adjudication in courts and on actors implementing this specific policy frame: asylum judges. To assess the peculiarities of the Italian adjudication model and how judges concretely behave in shaping policy, we rely on the Street Level Bureaucracy (SLB) framework. The SLB perspective allows us to study the implementation of asylum adjudication from a bottom-up perspective, focusing on judges and their margin of discretion in processing asylum claims. This exploratory study aims to verify the proposed theoretical framework and to understand if courts and judges adopt a SLB behaviour, the reasons why they adopt such a behaviour and the scope of their discretion.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77212746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transnationalism and Welfare Chauvinism in Italy: Evidence from the 2018 Election Campaign","authors":"A. Pellegata, Francesco Visconti","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1834214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1834214","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper investigates the factors which explain public attitudes to welfare chauvinism in Italy. The notion of ‘welfare chauvinism’ refers to the idea that foreigners, considered as out-groups, should have limited or even no access to domestic social security benefits. We focus on the role played by individual transnationalism: i.e. direct and indirect ties and connections with people and cultures of other European countries. We postulate that transnationalism dilutes fears and anxieties, fostering pro-opening attitudes. We test the research hypotheses by using original survey data collected during the 2018 Italian elections, in which the issues of welfare benefits and immigration shaped the election campaign.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73152988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Leader Polarisation: Conflict and Change in the Italian Political System","authors":"F. Bordignon","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1821464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1821464","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Polarising issues, polarising narratives, polarising leaders: this is the picture suggested by Italian politics in the 2018–20 time-frame. The article introduces the concept of leader polarisation and suggests a Leader Polarisation Index (LPI) to trace the recent evolution of the Italian party system. After the 2018 general election, the Italian political space experienced rapid change marked by the weakening of tripolarism, the re-emergence of bipolarism and the rise of elite-driven polarisation. The analysis of voters’ perspective through use of survey data reveals the increasingly divisive role of the Lega’s leader, Matteo Salvini.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81715201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Political Polarisation in Greece: The Prespa Agreement, Left/Right Antagonism and the Nationalism/Populism Nexus","authors":"Athéna Skoulariki","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1932020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1932020","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Following the signing of the Prespa Agreement in June 2018, the Macedonian name issue became the most prominent topic on the Greek political agenda, catalysing an exceptional political confrontation and contributing to the realignment of political parties and eventually to government change. Analysing the political discourse and public debate on the issue from January 2018 until the July 2019 national elections, as well as opinion polls and electoral results, the paper explores the conditions leading to the escalation of political polarisation on the left/right axis, at the expense of smaller centrist parties. It is argued that political antagonism was built on the previous political cleavage (although the populist/anti-populism axis was now reversed). By mobilising public emotions around an alleged ‘national threat’, the polarisation around the Macedonian name issue proved far more successful for the Greek right than for the left.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90208642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Populism Put to the Polarisation Test: The 2019–20 Election Cycle in Italy","authors":"Filippo Tronconi, M. Valbruzzi","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1821465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1821465","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT One year after the birth of an unprecedented government characterised by the strong populist stance of both coalition partners (M5S and the Lega) and amid a growing polarisation in party positions on a number of political issues, the European and regional elections of 2019–20 marked an important test for Italy. After presenting the results of the 2019–20 election cycle, the article investigates the most salient lines of party competition and the varying degrees of polarisation. Our analysis shows two kinds of polarisation: the first being the intra-coalitional polarisation which characterised the first Conte government; while the second, affecting the party system as a whole, is driven by the electoral rise of far-right parties.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75477568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Policy Polarisation in Italy: The Short and Conflictual Life of the ‘Government of Change’ (2018–2019)","authors":"N. Conti, A. Pedrazzani, Federico Russo","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1840110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1840110","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article uses the concept of policy polarisation to understand the short and conflictual life of the Conte I cabinet which remained in office in Italy from June 2018 to September 2019. We show how policy polarisation in parliament and between coalition parties shaped the formation and termination of the so-called ‘government of change’. When investigating the implementation of the government agenda, we also assess the role of the coalition contract as an (ineffective) institutional solution to problems stemming from policy divisions between the Five Star Movement and the Lega. We argue that, despite some policy accomplishments of the government, the Five Star Movement-Lega coalition appears more as a temporary experiment, whose legacy may not represent a new course of action.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78961661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Polarisation in Southern Europe: Elites, Party Conflicts and Negative Partisanship","authors":"A. Bosco, S. Verney","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1971444","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1971444","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article complements our collection of studies of politics in polarised Southern Europe by offering a cross-regional comparison. Following a brief excursion into how polarisation in Southern Europe has been addressed in the existing literature, the focus zooms in on three country case studies. After showing the differential evolution of polarisation in Italy, Greece and Spain over recent decades, the story is brought up to date with an examination of the specific ways in which polarisation played out in the 2019 election cycle. marked by the Catalan conflict in Spain, the Macedonian name question in Greece and the polarising role of Matteo Salvini in Italy. The article concludes with comparative insights into the current polarisation drives in the three countries.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78636162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two-bloc Logic, Polarisation and Coalition Government: The November 2019 General Election in Spain","authors":"Pablo Simon","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1857085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1857085","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article focuses on the role played by polarisation in the Spanish party system. It first analyses the failure in the attempts to form a government after the 28 April 2019 general election in Spain. It shows how polarisation and short-term calculations made government formation impossible and led to a new general election in November that year. The article also describes how prior to the electoral campaign, the exhumation of Francisco Franco’s body and the riots in Catalonia, which added to the saliency of territorial conflict, fostered votes for the radical right-wing party Vox. It will also be shown how the election results led to a fragmented and more polarised Congress. Finally, the article discusses the formation of the first minority coalition government in the recent democratic history of Spain – one made up of the PSOE and UP – its structure and its potential implications for the Spanish party system.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74779548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Looking for Affective Polarisation in Spain: PSOE and Podemos from Conflict to Coalition","authors":"Lluís Orriols, Sandra León","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2021.1911440","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2021.1911440","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Voters in many advanced democracies increasingly dislike their political opponents, a phenomenon that is known as affective polarisation. The growing animosity between electorates is particularly challenging in multiparty systems, where ruling is more dependent on cross-party alliances. In this work, we examine the case of Spain, a multiparty democracy that exhibits one of the highest levels of affective polarisation among advanced democracies. Using public opinion databases as well as extensive qualitative evidence, we operationalise and explore the evolution of affective polarisation in the Spanish electorate and its main drivers, with a particular focus on the competition for the left–wing electorate between the PSOE and Podemos during the 2015–2020 period.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76478702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two-partyism Reloaded: Polarisation, Negative Partisanship, and the Return of the Left-right Divide in the Greek Elections of 2019","authors":"Emmanouil Tsatsanis, Eftichia Teperoglou, Angelos Seriatos","doi":"10.1080/13608746.2020.1855798","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2020.1855798","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article examines the four electoral contests (municipal, regional, European, and parliamentary) that took place in Greece in 2019 through the prism of the growing polarisation that has dominated Greek political life since the early 2010s. It is argued that with these elections, the decade-long political cycle that began with the economic crisis came to its conclusion. The new party system resembles the pre-crisis one, featuring a return of two-partyism, single-party governments, and competition along the left-right dimension. However, the legacy of the crisis period remains present, as the ‘new’ two-party system continues to be characterised by high degrees of affective polarisation and negative partisanship.","PeriodicalId":47304,"journal":{"name":"South European Society and Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84596261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}