The Outcome: Electoral Trends and the Geopolitics of Voting

Abstract

This chapter explains the outcome of the 2022 Italian general election. The analysis considers the various parties that took part in the competition, briefly describing their electoral performances at the elections of the recent past. The votes won by the coalitions and the principal parties are compared with their performances at the earlier elections with the objective of describing the changes in their support. In particular, the outstanding success of one of the right-wing parties, Fratelli d’Italia, is highlighted, together with the fact that its leader became the first female head of government in Italy’s history. The election result is also analysed in terms of volatility and the disproportionality resulting from the election law currently in force: the so-called Rosatellum. The discussion of voters’ choices is then extended to include a discussion of the geographical distribution of the vote and the distribution of the vote by a number of socio-demographic characteristics. The analysis shows important elements of difference and others of continuity with regard to both the geography and sociology of the vote compared to elections in the recent past.