Immigration politics Italian style: the paradoxical behaviour of mainstream and populist parties.

Abstract

Abstract The politics surrounding Italy's first comprehensive immigration legislation (1990) and its emergence in the subsequent election campaign contradict our traditional understanding of how political parties respond to immigration. The Italian Republican Party, a small, liberal, governing party, waged a highly polemical campaign against the Law, whereas the Northern League, a party known for its right-wing tendencies, chose not to mobilize. By measuring the Italian experience against traditional theory, this article demonstrates the importance of considering party system fragmentation and differences between populist and extremeright parties in explaining the likelihood that parties will exploit the issue.