December 9th, 2025, 18:00 – 19:30hrs.
Speaker: Prof. Sabino Cassese (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Opening remarks: Prof. Antonio Punzi (Luiss Guido Carli)
Chair: Prof. Aldo Sandulli (Luiss Guido Carli)
Discussant: Prof. Nicola Lupo (Luiss Guido Carli)
Sala delle Colonne – Viale Pola https://luiss.webex.com/luiss/j.php?MTID=mfaed8b6efe4b4bbc16eb23a0aa5e26d1
Italy’s 2022 elections marked a sharp political shift: voter turnout fell to a historic low (63.9%), and the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), led by Giorgia Meloni, rose dramatically (from 4.3% in 2018 to 26%). The new government, supported by FdI, the League, and Forza Italia, represents Italy’s first extreme-right executive rooted in the post-fascist tradition.
The government’s style shows continuity with past practices of transformism (rapid political adaptation) and growing political patronage.
Its policies are pragmatic and cautious—pro-EU, pro-NATO, fiscally conservative—but marked by strong control over state institutions and emphasis on “national identity”.
There are risks: erosion of administrative capacity (“the democracy trap”), politicization of the civil service, and a mix of corporatism and patronage bypassing political parties.
The opposition remains weak and fragmented.
There is continuity amid change: a right-wing government that blends realism and nationalism but faces structural democratic fragilities.