1,720,983 research outputs found
Candidates nomination strategy in a mixed electoral system: Evidence from the 2022 Italian general election
Full text linkDespite the significant attention that scientific literature has dedicated to candidate selection mechanisms, relatively few studies have delved into which characteristics influence candidate positioning on the list. Social scientists have primarily focussed on factors shaping a candidate’s career rather than those affecting their placement on the list. Placement is a crucial factor in mixed or proportionally representative electoral systems with closed-list structures. Through a multivariate statistical analysis applied to an original dataset on candidates from major parties, this article aims to fill this gap in the literature by analysing candidates in the list during the 2022 Italian political elections. The results suggest that factors such as incumbency, previous national career, and the level of local rootedness favour placement on the list in positions where the chance of election seems more realistic. Conversely, gender favours placement in positions where the chances of election are less realistic. Additionally, dual candidacy in both the proportional and majoritarian parts also appear to have a positive effect; however, its interaction effects with other variables are less clear
Local roots and the acquisition of personal votes: the case of single-member district candidates in the 2018 Italian general election
No full textThis article investigates the relationship between candidates’ local roots and the share of personal votes received. The literature on personal votes emphasizes that candidates with strong connections to their constituencies tend to receive more personal votes than candidates with limited or no territorial connections. However, most research focuses almost exclusively on elected candidates, and localness is frequently operationalized as a dichotomous variable rather than as an ordinal one. This is a drawback on contemporary research on voting behaviour because it fails to reveal how different localness profiles affect the acquisition of personal votes. Using an original data set on single-member district candidates from the Italian 2018 general election, this article addresses the relationship between a localness index–derived from the literature–and the share of personal votes. The analysis shows that candidates with higher localness or which held monocratic political positions at the local level (notably mayors) tend to receive more personal votes. However, the interaction analysis shows that there is no effect of monocratic positions in multiplying the shares of personal votes obtained by local candidates
Political Professionalization Beyond National Borders: An Analysis of Italian MPs in Overseas Constituencies
Full text linkAmong European countries, Italy is one of the relatively few cases to provide a quota of reserved parliamentary seats for non-resident citizens. Despite an increased scientific interest in the topic, the group of MPs elected in Overseas Constituencies remains overlooked in the available literature. The gap relates to factors such as their socio-biographical profile, precedent careers, parliamentary activity, the role played in their recruitment by the party abroad or at a national level, and their style of representation. In this vein, the article investigates the career profiles of Italian MPs elected in Overseas Constituencies from 2006 (the first elections with the introduction of citizen representatives living abroad) to 2022. Based on an original data set and through an analysis of their biographical and political characteristics, the article builds a typology of elected MPs abroad by cross-referencing two dimensions derived from the literature: the linkage with the host country and the presence of previous political and associational experiences. The analysis shows that different types of MPs have different career lengths and a different capacity to collect preference votes
Climbing up, letting down, or putting the ladder away? Regional ministers’ movements in multilevel systems
Full text linkRegional cabinet members (RCMs) are key political actors in subnational politics, especially in federal systems or in countries that have undergone a process of regionalization or devolution, even though they are still less studied than federal or national ministers. Italy and its regionalization process represent an interesting case study to understand how and under what conditions members of regional cabinets can exit from politics or move upwards, or downwards the different tiers of government. By using an original dataset of 721 RCMs in ordinary statute regions we tested through multinomial regression analysis whether political and institutional or personal factors influence their movements (both legislative or executive) upward, that is, toward national and/or European positions, backward toward local (both provincial or municipal) positions or their exit from politics. Our results show that both political–institutional and individual factors matter. In particular, displaying a previous national career favors upward movements while being a technician or independent favors the exit from politics
Political careers and stability in office of regional ministers in Italy
Full text linkModels of political representation and selection in the Italian regions have undergone major changes since the mid-1990s, due to the new framework of opportunities based on a presidential form of government and a new party
system. We aim to understand the extent to which certain socio-economic
characteristics and political profiles influence the stability of the tenure of
Regional Ministers (RMs), using an original dataset of 1121 RMs in ordinary statute regions. Our results show that political affiliation and regional political experience are crucial for holding office and even certain socio-economic features such as gender and age. Indeed, centrist politicians are less likely to remain in office than those who belong to other parties. Furthermore, they are more likely to stay in office longer if they have a high level of regional experience
Party digitalization and members’ empowerment: A comparison of four Italian parties
Full text linkThe digitalization of political parties has often been approached from the
perspective of political parties. Previous studies discuss the potential impact
of technology on empowerment, but the users’ attitudes to this are largely
unknown. To address this gap in the literature, our article analyses how party
members view the empowerment potential of digital tools in their party. We
use data from semi-structured interviews conducted in November and
December 2023 with members of four Italian political parties: Brothers of Italy,
Democratic Party, Five Star Movement, and Forza Italia. Employing an inductive
approach, the coding process was data-driven, and identified four forms of
empowerment. The analysis revealed significant, and in some cases counterintuitive, similarities and differences between the parties examined
Career models in the new tripolar order. Political profiles of the Italian MPs after 2022 general elections
Full text linkThe 2022 general elections confirmed the instability of the Italian political system and in its shift from a bipolar to a tripolar competition dynamic. The article explores similarities and differences among MPs elected in 2022 during such electoral turmoil, aiming to understand their profiles and career paths. Specifically, the research investigates whether certain elements such as gender and affiliation with an organisational thick or thin party may influence the MPs’ career models. We run a multinomial logistic regression to test the effects on multilevel career patterns by relying on an original dataset which comprises the socio-economic and political characteristics of the current MPS and their career trajectories for a total of 588 observations. Our findings show that women are often newcomers, and they are more likely to display an alternative career model. They struggle to fully capitalize on the opportunities offered by multilevel democracy, both before and after attaining their position as MPs. Furthermore, MPs belonging to a party with a strong organisation are more likely to develop unidirectional and integrated models, indicating their ability to navigate the multilevel context with well-planned and structured career paths
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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