Urbanization and Italian Politics

Abstract

E FFORTS TO ACCOUNT for the nature and direction of political change in the developing nations of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East have produced the theory of political modernization. In these nations, observers have found the gradual emergence of modern political systems, characterized by (1) functionally specialized political institutions, such as parties, elections, pressure groups, schools, mass media, and legislatures; (2) political recruitment based on achievement; (3) mass awareness of national political events and allegiance to a national political system; (4) mass participation in national politics; and (5) a powerful, centralized, bureaucratic state, capable of performing a broad range of complex, sophisticated functions.' The development of the modern polity, according to this theory, is accompanied (or perhaps necessarily preceded) by the secularization of society, the growth of new social classes and the restructuring of class relations, industrialization and commercialization of the economy, and the growth of cities.2 In most developing nations, modern politics have tended to involve mostly the Westernized urban groups. Cities have not only been the principal arenas of politics, but also the principal means for the diffusion of nationalism and other modern political ideas and forms of behavior.3 Has this been the pattern of political development in Italy? It is difficult to say, given the ambiguities of the theory of political modernization, the lack of consensus on the nature of urban-rural relations in Italy, and the nature of Italian society.