Davide Vampa 
Brothers of Italy [PDF ebook] 
A New Populist Wave in an Unstable Party System

This volume examines the origins, ideology, organisation, leadership, political alliances, electoral performance and institutional role of the right-wing party Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia, Fdl). Fd I’s meteoric rise is only the latest in a series of shocks that have hit Italy’s unstable political system in recent years. However, it would be a mistake to brand Fd I as yet another Italian anomaly. Indeed, the party stands at the crossroads between an established political tradition, that of the post-fascist and conservative right, and the more recent populist waves that have affected many mature democracies. By placing Giorgia Meloni’s party in a comparative analytical framework, the author shows that its success stems from a mix of past legacies and current developments seen in much of Europe (and beyond): the growing role of right-wing female leaders and their reliance on new media; the mainstreaming of the far right mixed with populist repertoires; the de-alignment and (partial) re-alignment of voters; the reconfiguration of electoral geographies; and ultimately the emergence of an illiberal model of democracy. In short, rather than being an exception, Fd I can be seen as one of the most recent and advanced manifestations of a broader process of political change sweeping the West.

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