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Tries to identify some common traits of the welfare states of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, with special attention to institutional and political aspects. Summary in English p. 202.

The text outlines the evolution as well as the coincidence of the two notions of Representation & of Participation in their political aspects. The argumentation starts with an historical & political excursus of the receipt of the concept of <>, positively shared/acknowledged only in the Modern Age. Also concerning Representation, the paper follows its historical developments in order to underline the differences among the ideas of fiduciary representation, task & sociological representations. Starting from the relationships between the forms of political representation & "bottom-up" participation, the topic of quality of democracy emerges. By the way, if representation processes exclude the idea of direct participation, new ways of expressions are opened to citizens with expansion of the right to vote & social & political associations. The reason why people want to participate to political life can be highlighted by stressing two concepts of participation, the instrumental & the symbolic ones. Since in this context the parties (above all the mass-ones) set up a clasp between society & its institutions, they are called to answer to the instances of accountability & responsiveness which nowadays represent a topic point in the "democracies of disaffection.". References. Adapted from the source document.

In this diplomatic letter, the Italian ambassador to Israel indicates reasons for admiring the Israelis: a people unique in maintaining religious, national, & ethnic identity despite persecution & discrimination; the return to their homeland; & their shrewd tenacity in developing & safeguarding the nation. After discussing theories about how to reconcile the Israeli state with Palestinians claiming homeland, the failures of the Middle Eastern peace accords are reviewed. It is suggested that Israelis lay the Holocaust to rest & that the state of Israel is a significant aspect of the eternal Jewish medallion. The text of the Middle East Conflict. Resolution 1245 (2001), adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, is appended. 1 Appendix. J. Sadler

In a context of geo-political changes, the Arab and Islamic world re-discovers, as usual in moments of crisis, the social and economic thought of Ibn Khaldun and his concept of assabiya to analyse the challenges and the risks of the present times. There is, also, a significant attempt to found an autonomous and autochtonous way of political approach in order to attribute a local philosophical origin and intellectual paternity to the recent revolts in contrast with any "westernized" aspect or interpretation.

Redefining territoriality is a crucial aspect of the changing nature of public policies in a multi-level, 'post-national' polity. New forms of territoriality in spatial development policies can be thus seen as a key analytical dimension of change in the state's role & rationales in defining public policies. The article addresses emergent practices of territorial governance in a perspective of inquiry on state change, with particular reference to western European countries. The changing nexus between territoriality & the state is addressed according to a 'governance approach' that privileges a policy-driven interpretation of change, & builds on a theoretical framework largely alternative to traditional 'state-centered' approaches. Reference goes to new conceptualizations of socio-spatial structuration processes in the social sciences & to critical reassessments of related geographical concepts in political economy & geography. Particular attention goes to the notion of 'scale', & to 'rescaling' -- i.e. the redefinition of the geographical scales of state regulation & governance -- as a key dimension of state restructuring processes. In this perspective, state-theoretical regulationist approaches are discussed that emphasize the scalar dimension of state restructuring as a key response to the changing position of the state as a site of regulation in a context of inter- & trans-nationalization. References. Adapted from the source document.

This study analyzes the concept of democracy support by focusing on a few conceptual aspects. In past research, some scholars have limited their study to particular aspects, for example, the "satisfaction with democracy," while others have used only indicators relative to the legitimacy of democracy. In this research, studying concepts such as those above within an Italian context, we analyze the dimensions of democracy support from both synchronic & diachronic viewpoints following Eastons' conceptualization. The principal results show that the dimensions of Italian democracy support are in line with Easton's conceptualization. They are characterized by five dimensions; each one is representative of a specific aspect of democracy support. Adopting bivariate & multivariate analyses, this work demonstrates that in Italy, support for democracy has increased over time, both in terms of "diffuse" & "specific" support. Despite this trend, dissatisfaction with the political class among Italian citizens has increased, confirming a gap between citizens & politicians. Adapted from the source document.

The debate about the rule of law and the role it plays as driver of democratization processes is now fairly developed and diffused worldwide. Despite that, the concept is still contended and its semantic characterized by a byzantine complexity. Firstly and foremost, political scientists do not share a common conception of rule of law encompassing formal and substantial aspects of the "government based on rules rather than on men". This paper wants to encourage the development of a dialogue between law and politics, legal studies and political science, in order to investigate better and reach a deeper understanding of how and why under specific conditions governments ruled by rules -- which are still made by men -- represent favorable conditions to democratic processes and processes of state building. The readers are led through a vast literature, then provided with a proposal of a framework that covers both the conception of rule of law as precondition and as outcome of socio-political processes. Adapted from the source document.

The article analyses some relatively new aspects of the Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre. In particular it tackles the double bond for the Conselho do Orcamento Participativo (imperative mandate & budget constraint according to redistributive justice), as well as the rule providing for an equal proportion between the participants at the assemblies & the number of delegates for each Forum. Participatory budgeting is suggesting to be a procedure aimed at adopt fair decision from a social point of view, & not only at promote the largest political participation of the citizens. According to the author the originality of the Brazilian experiment is to propose the formalization of "constitutional" rules for achieving social justice, beyond the virtues of popular participation. Adapted from the source document.

Starting from an analysis of the relationship between cognitive variables (such as the "level of interest in politics") & evaluative-affective variables (in particular, individual evaluations of political leaders), this article explores the perception that different segments of the electorate had of Silvio Berlusconi & of his Center-Left opponent Francesco Rutelli. Focus is on the degree of popularity of the two candidates & voters' opinions of their personal & political qualities. These two aspects of the candidate evaluation process are taken into account in both relational & diachronic terms, the former with special attention to the concept of "coalition belonging" that applies the classic notion of partisanship to the new main cleavage in Italian electoral politics, & the latter monitoring the evolution of voters' attitudes toward the candidates & identifying four main effects of the electoral campaign: "polarization," "involvement gap," "vedette," & "disenchantment.". 19 Tables, 1 Figure, 20 References. Adapted from the source document.

Since the beginning of the 1990s there has been in Italy a partial and incomplete transition from a consensual to a majoritarian form of democracy. And the traditional interpretations of the 'Italian case' have been gradually abandoned without having been substituted by new ones. So, nowadays there are many detailed empirical researches about specific aspects of the Italian political system and transition, but no comprehensive model is available to understand the overall logics of its functioning and development. The thesis of the article is that the models proposed to depict the First Republic can be useful to understand also the Second one, once they have been adequately revisited and updated. Then, three frameworks are analyzed -- polarized pluralism, party government, and the theory of democratic consolidation and anchoring -- in order to suggest how they can be applied and how to 'rediscover' a tradition of research that risks to be lost. Adapted from the source document.