Abstract
Italy's post-war political system has been analysed as a case of consociational democracy, albeit of a special kind. Not cultural segmentation, but ideological polarisation was the main source of division, giving rise to a distinct pattern of elite cooperation captured with such terms as ‘consociativismo’ and ‘degenerated consociationalism’. This paper examines the origins, dynamics, and outcomes of ‘consociationalism Italian style’ through a systematic comparison of consociational interpretations with the analysis of the Italian party system as a case of polarised pluralism. The aim is a better understanding of the challenges posed by segmentation and polarisation and of the reasons why they require different forms of political accommodation. The findings have relevance for the analysis of other cases of polarisation, including contemporary ones.
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