03 February 2023
Pressure to Party?
Much has changed – and been written – since the ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ (AfD) was founded ten years ago by some rather neoliberal economists and former conservative party members. Today, hardly anyone talks about its early Eurosceptic profile, as it was soon replaced by nativist, authoritarian positions, making the party a typical member of the (populist) radical right party family. This shift to the far right was accompanied by a massive change in the party’s executive committee and membership base in 2015. Today, none of the first party spokespersons is a member of the party anymore. Continue reading >>
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06 December 2019
Grassroots growing upwards
In which I have second thoughts about primary elections and their benefit for democracy. Continue reading >>22 September 2019
Italia Viva, Party System Reform Morta
Until a decade ago or even less, Italian politics appeared a matter of its own political idiosyncrasies and was dismissed as a peculiar case which is cause more for an amused smile but serious political analysis. This is not the case anymore. The sad truth is that parliamentary regimes based on a functioning majority in Parliament do not seem to be able to deliver sufficiently stable and effective governments these days. Continue reading >>
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19 March 2019
The Birth of Political Europe
With just 90 days to go before the European Parliament elections, the EU political and societal landscape is undergoing a profound and historical shake-up. This goes well beyond the reductionist and highly-polarized depiction of the pro-EU vs anti-EU / open vs closed society debate championed by our political class and magnified by the media. The effects of EU policies on citizens’ lives as further amplified by the Brexit collective journey have gradually led to the emergence of a timid, yet evolving, common pan-European debate. Yet, as epitomized by Emmanuel’s Macron multi-lingual op-ed unparallelly addressed to the whole EU electorate, this Europeanisation of the political conversation is unveiling an inconvenient truth. Continue reading >>
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