In this article the main contents of this special issue are introduced. In particular, some of the main problems related to multi-level electoral competition in Italy are presented and how this work intends to analyse them. It will be shown that both parties and voters have strategically adapted and responded to the challenges of multi-level electoral competition to an extent that was probably unexpected in a system undergoing transformation and whose inefficiencies are a conventional wisdom.

The history of the Italian Republic's territorial structure has always been intertwined with party competition. Partisan logics have notably played a relevant role in the ways regions have been moulded, set up and run. This article illustrates the discourse of Italy's political parties on the ‘ordinary’ statute regions throughout the successive phases of regionalisation. After the consensus reached in the Constituent Assembly, a paralysis due to party contrasts followed. The Centre-left governments in the 1960s re-started the process, which culminated in the 1970s–also thanks to the Communists’ support–in the establishment of the 15 ordinary-statute regions. The 1990s inaugurated a period of further devolution, which reached constitutional status in the early years of the millennium. Once again, partisan motivations were of primary importance, notably because of the electoral threat posed to mainstream parties by the Northern League. In recent years, party positions have differentiated consistently according to inter-coalition competitive dynamics.

The aim of this article is to describe the evolution of the Italian regional party systems 25 years after the establishment of 15 Ordinary Statute regions and five years after the implementation of a major Constitutional reform increasing the powers of the regions and the visibility of regional political actors. The theoretical point of departure of the article is the second order election model originally applied to European elections to highlight their dependence on the national political level. The article begins by showing that this model has been applicable for regional elections only since the mid-1990s, a finding that goes against the conventional wisdom. The article then explains the structure of regional political competition through the analysis of two phenomena, fragmentation and differentiation, and the way they are correlated, stressing the changing pattern of competition before and after the breakdown of the First Republic.

This article is focused on one of the most relevant novelties in the Italian electoral market of the past decade: the emerging phenomenon of intermittent abstentionism. Rather than an increase in overall abstentionism rates, aggregate and survey data show a clear increase in the number of floating voters who swing between voting and non-voting. After a description of the characteristics of intermittent abstensionists, the article discusses the relationship between different electoral systems at different levels of government and territorial differentiation as far as voting participation is concerned. It then discusses the impact of intermittent abstentionism on the results of the 2006 general election where the parties’ electoral campaigns appear to have been aimed at mobilising intermittent abstensionists. The article concludes with some considerations of the Italian electoral cycle, particularly in relation to the changes generated by the run-up to the 2008 elections.

Public funding of political parties in Italy has developed along quite clear-cut lines: increasingly generous reimbursements; non-selective criteria for the allocation of funds; and an increase in the number of beneficiaries. The current reimbursement system costs the State more than 250 million euros a year. The payment of such reimbursements in annual instalments means that in many cases they continue to receive funds even though they are no longer politically active. However, the most problematic issue concerns party fragmentation. Reimbursements are paid out at different levels of electoral competition (European, general and regional), effectively providing parties with different channels of funding. This is a big opportunity, above all for small parties that often find it difficult to reach the thresholds for representation and funding in some spheres of the electoral competition. This is even more evident if one considers that public funding is the main source of revenue for the Italian political parties.

Italian political parties have been involved for almost three decades in a multi-level electoral game encompassing the election of national, supranational and local institutions. The content of the electoral competition has also changed to include not only nationwide, but also sub-national and supranational issues. This article analyses the interaction between Italian parties and the theme of European integration. The aim is to explore the role of contentious European Union matters in domestic electoral competition, specifically at the time of European elections. Such a role is important to understand to what extent the Italian parties politicise the EU issues during EP elections, and to determine the impact of such issues on the Italian party system and on its patterns of policy competition. In particular, the article will explore whether Europe as an issue has been internalised along the main patterns of party competition or has produced a disruptive effect and forms of realignment.

This article looks at the contribution that the recording of personal memories makes to the history and to the collective and public remembrance of the Second World War in Italy. It concentrates on a product of the 1980s boom in oral and written testimonies about the war, Giulio Bedeschi's edited anthology of the personal stories of civilian victims, Fronte italiano: c'ero anch'io. La popolazione in guerra. The article assesses the anthology's theme of victimhood and its implications for how Italians have chosen to remember the war. It considers the standing of these personal memories as historical sources, and the extent to which they can contribute to a historical understanding of the Italians’ war experiences.