Spatializing Populism: Taking Politics to the People in Italy

Political parties with conventional memberships and hierarchical structures are under challenge across electoral democracies from movements and candidates that claim they are “going to the people” directly for their support. Italy has been a laboratory for this populism even as the term itself is used more widely. The basic question of what the people are to whom populism refers has not received much, if any, empirical examination. After surveying usage of the term populism, three facets behind the rise of Italian populism since 1990 are examined using a geographic perspective. First, the geography of voter turnout and rising abstention is considered to be emblematic of dissatisfaction with existing parties and the expanding pool of nonvoters available for mobilization by populist movements and candidates. Second, the role of the leader as an alternative focal point to the party is shown to be central to such populist movements. Silvio Berlusconi is the primary actor in this account, although other similar figures are identified. Third and finally, the rise of the Internet-based 5 Star Movement and the promise of going to the people without any institutional or geographical mediation is assessed. The Movement's dual identity as having strong roots in some places as a civic organization and a remarkably uneven geography as a protest movement shows how much even it cannot engage with a singular people. When examined closely, the promise of politics without mediation made by populist movements proves beyond realization.