The Meloni government in Italy is betting everything on radical and polarising constitutional reforms.
Italy’s election: a far-right high, on a low budget
The honeymoon for a Meloni-led, right-wing government may prove to be shortlived.
Draghi’s resignation: what next?
Only one political figure will benefit from chaos in Italy. He is in Moscow, not Rome.
Ukraine and Europe’s defence spending
Europe’s reaction to the Ukraine crisis will do much to define what kind of Europe it is to be.
Matteo Salvini’s League and the price of unbridled populism
The strength of populism is its simple message that ‘the people’ are traduced by an ‘elite’ linked to ‘foreign’ interlopers. That’s also its weakness.
Science and politics: a new alliance?
The pandemic has brought science and expertise to the fore in the public sphere, as an anchor of trust—and put the populists on the back foot.
Lobbying In The EU: An Often Unholy Alliance
With movies such as Inside Job and Thank you for Smoking or TV series like House of Cards, the US model of influencing decisions and policies of legislators, also known as “pressure and purchase”, has become famous worldwide as enshrining the activity of lobbyists or, more formally, public affairs managers. Millions of US dollars are […]
Towards The Disappearance Of Politics?
The crisis of political debate within contemporary democracies Exactly sixty years ago, in 1958, Hannah Arendt published The Human Condition. In her philosophical masterpiece, Arendt indicated that the “Vita Activa”, a life actively encompassing public political debate and political action, is the only place of real freedom for citizens and sole remedy for totalitarian regimes […]
The Production Of Fear. European Democracies In The Age Of Populisms And Technocracies
Populisms and Technocracies: mastering the art of evoking fears In Europe, home to one of the most ambitious political and institutional experiments in recent history, the European Union, populist movements and technocratic elites have been among the most active actors in taking advantage of the use of fear, beginning immediately after the global financial and […]