18:30, Thursday, March 15, 2018 – PENTHOUSE

Politics in Italy: Not a “Normal” Country
The Elections: Electoral Laws and Electoral Results (Part II of a 3 Part Series)

Gianfranco Pasquino

Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe; University of Bologna, Italy

Patrick McCarthy Memorial Series on Intellectuals and Politics supported by the Patrick McCarthy Fund

THE ITALIAN NATIONAL ELECTIONS 2018 AND MORE

Italians will go to the polls on March 4th to elect a new Parliament. The 2013-2018 legislature has been somewhat tumultuous but not unproductive – three governments, two Presidents of the Republic, one constitutional referendum and much more. Parliament has approved some important, though controversial, laws: Jobs Act, La Buona Scuola, a new electoral law, the living will. The outcome of the elections is surrounded by an aura of uncertainty. Berlusconi’s comeback has re-invigorated the center-right. The Democratic Party has never fully recovered from the defeat in the constitutional referendum and has suffered a split. The Five Star Movement appears somewhat isolated and wounded by the poor performance of its local governments. However it still thrives on the dissatisfaction that many Italians feel with Italian politics and the modest quality of democracy. The three lectures will provide more than an introduction to the politics of a not insignificant European country – the way things are now and the ways they might change.

Gianfranco Pasquino is Senior Adjunct Professor of European and Eurasian Studies at The Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Bologna.

Pasquino was Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna from 1969-2012. He was a member of the Italian Senate from 1983-1992 and from 1994-1996. He served as a parliamentary observer for the plebiscite (1988) and presidential elections (1989) in Chile. He was awarded the laurea honoris causa from the Catholic University of Cordoba, University of Buenos Aires and University de La Plata. Pasquino is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Enciclopedia Italiana, President of the Società Italiana di Scienza Politica and a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He received the Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society (CONGRIPS) Life Achievement Award (2016). Pasquino received his MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS (1967).

Publications: Politica e istituzioni (2016); Cittadini senza scettro (2015); La Costituzione in trenta lezioni (2015); co-editorOxford Handbook of Italian Politics (2015); Finale di partita. Tramonto di una Repubblica (2013); La rivoluzione promessa. Lettura della costituzione Italiana (2011); Il Partito Democratico di Bersani. Profilo, persone, prospettive, co-editor (2010);Le parole della politica (2010); Una splendida cinquantenne. La Quinta Repubblica Francese, co-editor (2010); Nuovo corso di scienza politica (2009); Masters of Political Science, co-editor (2009); Strumenti della democrazia, editor (2007); Le istituzioni di Arlecchino (2007); Los poderes de los jefes de gobierno (2007); Sistemi politici comparati (2003, revised in 2004 and 2007); Il Dizionario di Politica, co-editor (2016 4th ed.). Pasquino is [an editorial writer for il Corriere di Bologna] and a frequent contributor of articles and reviews to academic journals, policy forums and news outlets.