Italy: A Country of Many Populisms

Abstract

According to some observers, populism found its ‘richest testing ground’, its ‘paradise’ in Italy in the late 1990s (Zanatta, 2002: 286). As Guy Hermet wrote, Italy ‘has transformed itself into the site par excellence of populism’s triumph over the classical parties’ (Hermet, 2001: 396). During the five years of the centre-right Berlusconi administration (2001–2006), composed of Forza Italia (FI), Alleanza Nazionale (AN), the Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e di Centro (UDC) and the Lega Nord (LN), the press has often stressed the populist character of the government and its policies.