Are cartels going private? Italian parties’ organizational faces since the golden age of public financing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Political finance is an important aspect of the study of how power is distributed among the organizational faces of political parties: the party on the ground (POG), the party in central office (PCO) and the party in public office (PPO). The end of the state finance era in Italy (between 2013 and 2017) may have affected intra-party relations, moving political actors towards the (re-)discovery of the financial potential of grassroots and volunteer support. This article contributes to the analysis of parties’ resilience since the party finance reform adopted in Italy in 2014. It focuses on the resources activated and used by different political actors seeking new ways to survive since the public financing regime was dismantled between 2013 and 2018. The impact of political financing reform should contribute to reshaping how power is distributed within parties: as the PPO becomes increasingly unimportant in providing financial resources, party organization is moving beyond the cartel party model.