Turning Over a New Leaf? Cohesion and Discipline in the Italian Parliament

In: The journal of legislative studies, Band 6, Heft 4, S. 29-52

Abstract

The literature on parties suggests various hypotheses about the conditions under which the cohesion & discipline of parliamentary parties will be greater or lesser. Since one such hypothesis concerns party-system characteristics, Italy offers an opportunity to investigate what happens to cohesion & discipline when a system characterized by the permanence in office of a large, centrally located party & based on the permanent exclusion of Left & Right extremes, is replaced by one characterized by strong bipolar tendencies & the alternation in office of two competing coalitions. Italy' s transformation appears to have produced more cohesive & disciplined behavior in parliament. 5 Tables, 1 Appendix. Adapted from the source document.