With corruption scandals dogging practically every party, it’s difficult to see how the electorate can have faith in their representatives. And yet, they keep voting for them.
In a climate of widespread discontent with Italy’s political establishment, a new election might wipe out most of the parties in the current government coalition.
Austrian presidential candidate Van der Bellen, reacts on Sunday night as he defeats his rival from the far-right Freedom Party.
Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
To understand whether the referendum will plunge Italy into a crisis, we need to unpack the problem in its three essential components: the reform; the Renzi’s factor; and the country’s economy.
After 1992, the transformation of the Italian left was slow and subtle, but by no means less detrimental to the quality of the country’s democratic system.
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham