Voting and borderland minorities: Recent Italian elections and the Slovene minority in eastern Fiuli-Venezia Giulia

Abstract

This article seeks to link electoral behavior and borderland ethnic minority patterns. Results of the November 1993 mayoral election in Trieste, and the March 1994 and April 1996 national elections in Italy are studied in reference to the distribution of the Slovene minority in Northeastern Italy, specifically in the eastern part of the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia adjoining the boundary with Slovenia. The history of this borderland is rampant with conflict and territorial sovereignty changes. Recent events – the end of the Cold War, the breakup of Yugoslavia and independence of Slovenia, and the collapse of the Italian political party system – have served both to ease traditional tensions but also to exacerbate ethnic relations between Italians and the Slovene minority. The impact of Italian electoral reform and political party reformulation on the region is examined. Specifically, Mayor Illy's election in the city of Trieste in 1993 and voting patterns in the borderland Goriziano district of the Italian Senate for both the 1994 and 1996 elections are studied in some detail. The article concludes that while electoral campaigns and election results are marked with ethnic confrontation and contrasts, evidence suggests that, despite continuing nationalist tendencies, greater understanding and cooperation between Italians and Slovenes are emerging.