Varieties of inclusionary and exclusionary populism in the Italian regional elections 2018-20

Abstract

Populism is increasingly common across a wide range of Italian political parties. Given their ideological diversity, further distinctions are needed to disentangle the different types of populism they exhibit. Moreover, while Italian regional politics are increasingly independent of national party control and national trends, regional variation in the extent of parties’ populism is not yet known. This article examines the degree of both ‘inclusionary’ and ‘exclusionary’ forms of populism exhibited by the major parties in the Italian regional elections 2018–20. To do so, it conducts a mixed quantitative-qualitative content analysis of their regional electoral manifestos. The results show not only the differences in the extent to which the Italian parties emphasize inclusionary and exclusionary forms of populism, but also the extent to which these emphases vary for each party between different regional contests. The article makes an empirical contribution through its relocation of measurement of the varieties of populism to the relatively neglected, but increasingly distinctive, regional arena.