Italy

‘Italians locked at home, illegal migrants free to disembark’: How populist parties re-contextualized the anti-immigration discourse at the time of COVID-19 pandemic

“…This allows to consider our second hypothesis (H.2). In the wake of other recent studies interested in the Italian context (Urso, 2018; Zanotti and Meléndez, 2023), we hypothesized that being in Draghi government would play a crucial role in ‘softening’ the way Lega and Forza Italia discuss the immigration issue. When RWPPs were in opposition the discourse on immigration was unanimously and consistently reproduced by the alliance which emphasized the government’s management incapacity and ‘unfair’ maneuvers against Italians.…”

“…Differently, during the two governments, Fratelli d’Italia continued to exploit the full potential of the immigration-pandemic relationship as a dimension on which criticize the work of both governments and affirming its slogans. Being the only party in opposition allowed to maintain its own radical right political discourse depicting itself as the only party acting in the people’s interest, opposing the elite, thus increasing its electoral support while Lega and Forza Italia declined (Donà, 2022; Zanotti and Meléndez, 2023).…”

“…RWPP assumed distinctive and conflicting responses to the pandemic. In 2020, during the Conte II government Lega and Fratelli d’Italia represented the most vocal critic having the chance to politicize different aspects linked to the consequences of the pandemic itself including that of immigration (Zanotti and Meléndez, 2023). From the beginning of 2021, with the Draghi government, have been emerged contrasting positions in facing the pandemic: Forza Italia reinvented itself as a moderate, pro-EU party, (Albertazzi et al, 2021), the Lega become part of the government, while Fratelli d’Italia the only party excluded.…”

“…As note by Pietrucci (2023), this split influenced the public perception of the three parties in the year leading up to the national election in 2022. According to Zanotti and Meléndez (2023) the different roles played by the parties in 2021 allowed Fratelli d’Italia to be able to «challenge the government’s actions and to depict itself as the only party acting in the people’s interest, opposing the elite» (Zanotti and Meléndez, 2023: 93). Finally, a growing literature is focusing on political communication concerning the immigration during the pandemic (see e.g.…”

From ‘Anomaly’ to ‘Laboratory’? Fratelli d’Italia, Illiberalism and the Study of Right-Wing Parties in Western Europe

“…Ultimately, having a noisy (and more radical) ally on its right can help to consolidate the mainstreaming of the party. A general moderation of FdI emerges when confronting its positions in government with the times of the Draghi government, when being the only party in opposition ‘allowed FdI to systematically challenge the government’s actions and to depict itself as the only party acting in the people’s interest, opposing the elite’ (Zanotti and Meléndez, 2022: 93). During this transition, the populist tones of its communication were also toned down (assessed analysing the daily press releases on the party’s website, Angelucci et al, 2025).…”