Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European ...

98 Twenty-First Century Populism
In terms of concrete policies, therefore, populism in Italy has hardly
achieved any of the objectives which its standard bearers had set themselves.
This is despite the fact that the two most obvious exponents of Italian
populism, Berlusconi and Bossi, governed together from 2001 to 2006. This
verdict does not hold true for populist style, however, which has reached
new heights over the last decade. Indeed, it is not just Berlusconi, Bossi, and
other members of the CDL centre-right government who have used this
style, i.e. the media-heavy celebration of traditional national and popular
virtues, continuous exposure of the vices of professional politics, repeated
references to the common sense of the people, intolerance of the formal
procedures that might obstruct and diminish the decision-making power of
the prime minister. Some within the opposition have also chosen to arm
themselves with the weapons of their adversaries, fighting populism with
populism. This is not true of the main parties of the centre-left coalition,
although they have attempted to follow the same path as the CDL by promising
harsher policies on immigration and crime, and by criticizing the ‘old
politics’ of corruption, the excessive power of the parties as opposed to government
leaders, the inflated number of deputies and the unjustified privileges
enjoyed by institutional representatives. Nor is it true of the parties of
the radical Left, who have bitterly criticized both the ideas and the style of
the populists, accusing them of subverting the democratic spirit. Rather,
populist tactics have been embraced on the centre-left by spontaneous
movements like the so-called Girotondi and Antonio di Pietro’s Italia dei
Valori, which have claimed a monopoly in expressing the feelings of the
‘clean’, ‘honest’ and ‘virtuous’ part of the population and have not hesitated
to condemn professional politicians (Tarchi, 2003: 183−200).
Now that the Berlusconi government’s time in office has come to an end,
one might ask in closing whether populism is destined to disappear from
the Italian political mainstream in the near future. The are many elements
which suggest such a conclusion:
Berlusconi’s image has been tarnished by defeat;
(a) the Lega has been weakened by the illness of its charismatic leader and
the rejection by referendum of the constitutional reform package which
was to introduce devolution;
(b) Alleanza Nazionale, whose origins lead it to be viewed as capable of
assuming populist stances (that would certainly please many of its
activists), is meanwhile seeking to move itself towards the centre in
order to compete directly with Forza Italia for the moderate conservative
sections of the electorate.
On the Left, the success of the Unione and the entry of Di Pietro into the
Prodi government as a minister makes it more likely that his strongest antipolitical
impulses will be absorbed. At the same time, however, opinion