FLASH
Shkruar nga Sabino Cassese
What is happening to democracy and politics?
It took Italy 85 years, from 1861 to 1946, to achieve universal suffrage, but only 39 years, from 1983 to 2022, to lose a third of its electorate. Historically, the country has taken 85 years to join the legal state, but in half of that time, it has regressed, because citizens who had won the right to vote no longer go to the polls. The resulting dissatisfaction with politics creates a gap between the state and society.
In the 1950s, approximately 10 percent of the population (between 4 and 5 million people) were members of a political party. Today, party membership is no more than 2 percent of the population. The main link between the real country and the legal country, political parties, have become recessive.
Moreover, they lose their identity when they delegate the selection of political leaders to all voters, even non-members, with the result that the militant base is removed and participants in open primaries may be supporters of another party that seeks to favor the weaker candidate from the opposing camp. Or when people who do not belong to its tradition become party leaders, or who even have to join the party to rise to leadership positions.
Voters' disinterest in politics is reflected in immediate politics, made up of declarations rather than programs. Thus, parties lose their ability to lead and orient the electorate. Their leaders devote themselves mainly to producing a daily dose of television jokes. Their chosen topics are mundane, focusing on small events rather than big problems, more on customs than on political issues, preferring quarrels to debate, displaying flags and banners, even in Parliament, rather than engaging in discussions. As a result, the so-called political "forces" are weak, unable to secure support from a country from which they are far away, and end up taking back what they have given, that is, very little.
Few members, a lack of congresses, and a lack of a program also lead to electoral instability, meaning voters can easily change their voting choices. This also leads to asymmetric mobility, with unbalanced voter turnout between different political forces, as well as last-minute decisions and low levels of voter loyalty to parties.
This situation, which is not unique to Italy, although it is more pronounced here, presents numerous unique characteristics and raises many questions.
How could such a significant change occur in such a short period of forty years? Is this related to the absence of the great ideological movements that characterized the 19th century and most of the 20th century, liberalism, socialism and later communism? How can this be reconciled with the lack of apathy that is also evident in the country, evidenced mainly by the number of people who volunteer, which amounts to approximately 9 percent of the population, almost 5 million people? Doesn't this ultimately reveal the true nature of what we call democracy, which in reality consists of an oligarchy controlled by periodic elections?/ Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "Corriere della Sera"
Shoku Italian. Në vitin 1863 e ngritët popullin italian kundër mullixhinjëve, biznes familjar, se me demek "taksa e ujemit" ishte barr për fshatarët. Nuk caktuat taksë të re, por shkatërruat mullinjtë , vratë mullixhinjtë dhe dogjët shtëpitë e tyre. Nuk ka për t'ju zënë bytha vënd, se ju e keni alergji pasurinë që nuk vjen nga një batakçillëk dhe sidomos po nuk e zotërojë një majtist.