The International context 2013-2018

Abstract

In contrast to previous Italian elections, the election of 2018 was one in which foreign policy-related issues were significant in the campaign and had a large impact on the outcome. In particular, although Italian citizens had generally been very supportive of the so-called vincolo esterno— the ‘external constraint’ deriving from the country’s EU obligations (Dyson and Featherstone 1999)—these elections seemed to mark the end of the permissive consensus (Lindberg and Scheingold 1970) concerning European integration on the part of Italian public opinion. why was this the case? This chapter seeks to provide an answer by examining the international context in which the recent Italian elections took place, paying specific attention to the impact the Eurozone and the migration and refugee crises had on Italian politics in the period between the 2013 and the 2018 elections. The crises constitute a suitable vehicle for assessing both the relevance of the external constraint for Italy and the effects, at national level, of EU responses—or lack thereof—to policy challenges.