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This paper examines the preferences over candidates expressed by voters in the last three regional Italian elections (1995, 2000, 2005). In these elections, voters were asked to express a single preference, as opposed to the multiple preferences allowed until 1990. The introduction of single preferences voting from 1995 onward had the effect of reducing the number of preferences expressed in 1995, & then increasing it in the subsequent regional elections of 2000 & 2005. The preference rate (that is, the percentage relation between preferences expressed & preferences allowed) dropped at first from 29% in 1990 to 25,2 in 1995, & then increased to 44,3 in 2000 & to 51,7 in 2005, thus doubling the 1995 figure. As far as electoral behaviour in the various geographical regions is concerned, the results of the analysis show to be an increase everywhere in the preference rate & confirm that voters' tendencies to make use of the preference vote varies, for a number of reasons (among which the different subcultures of the various areas), depending on both the region & the list voted for. The remains a North-South divide, which, however, is less significant than in 1995. In the case of all list, there is a tendency for preferences to be disturbed unevenly among the candidates, given the greater attraction of certain candidates (nearly always those at the top of a list). Tables. Adapted from the source document.

In this paper the author statistically analyses the main results of the 2004 elections for Italian Members of the European Parliament. Compared to the previous European elections, of 1999, there was an increase in turn out of 1.9 percent, thus bringing to a halt the negative trend which characterized Italian European elections from 1979 to 1999. In terms of the distribution of valid votes among the official lists, there was a significant swing away from Forza Italia & from the Bonino-Pannella list, a minor worsening of the position of the main Centre-left list (Uniti nell'Ulivo), & an improvement for Rifondazione Comunista, Alleanza Nazionale, Unione di Centro, the Lega Nord, Comunisti Italiani & the Greens (Verdi). Finally, it is noted that in terms of preferences in favour of the candidates of the lists voted for, although in each of Italy's five constituencies voters were allowed to express up to three preferences, the number of preferences expressed was in fact lower than in 1999. Adapted from the source document.

Examines the 1989 electoral reform, reintroducing a system allowing voters to express one preference among the candidates of a given party's list and bringing the electoral system closer to a formula of pure proportional representation. Summary in English.

During the last decade, political communication (particularly through TV) has become a key issue in Italian politics. It has been argued by politicians & observers that partisan bias in the broadcasts of the two major networks operating in the country has had a strong influence on the outcome of elections. This article presents evidence pertaining to this controversy collected in the course of the 2001 campaign. Analysis of archived data on TV programs shows that public network (Rai) & Mediaset channels differed in terms of the amount of "visibility" granted to the leaders of the two major electoral coalitions. Analysis of survey data from the archive of the Ispo Instit shows the existence of a fairly strong association between voting choices & viewing preferences for the various channels. In conclusion, the authors present alternative models of the linkages between selective exposure to different sources & political preferences. 6 Tables, 5 Figures, 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article draws an assessment of the impact of communication & electoral campaigns during the four elections that followed the entry of Berlusconi in the political arena. The article explores three questions. First, the characteristics of communicative & televise supply. Second, the specific features of the 2006 electoral campaign. Third, the media consumption by voters & its "effects" on their attitudes & electoral behaviour. The first section discusses the debate on mass media influence on politics before & after the electoral transition at the beginning of the Nineties & presents some data on pluralism on television. The second section discusses the characteristics of the 2006 campaign: its development, the strategies by Berlusconi & Prodi & the role of survey predictions. The third section deals with media consumption & its "effects." The strength of the relationship between TV preferences & voting in Italy can be explained partly as "media influence" & partly (for the most part) as "political encapsulation" of media preferences. The conclusive remarks assess the relationship between a very stable inter-coalitional electoral market & the high aggressiveness of Italian electoral campaigns & offers some indications for future research. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The study focuses on the personalization strategies of political leaders on Twitter, in order to verify how the dimensions of personalization of politics typical of television setting are adapted in the new digital habitat. Following the selection of specific indicators the research analyses the tweets produced by the main Italian leaders over a year and a half. The multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) has identified three specific self personalization strategies: (i) Professional Leader, (ii) Intimate Persona, (iii) Intimate Leader, which have been related with the average of the likes received. The results confirmed that the adoption of personalized strategies is now part of the leaders' communicative preferences particularly through messages aimed at presenting their most intimate and personal side. At the same time, the research showed the users' preferences for these strategies aimed at strengthening the sense (or illusion) of greater intimacy with the politician. From this perspective the study also allows to understand the meaning that arenas like Twitter offer to the process of "shortening the distances" between citizens and political representatives. In this regard, we point out that the transition from TV to social media further accentuates personalization, giving politicians entire control over their self-disclosure activities

The essay reflects on the harmful effect that recourse to post-truth (modern form of political lie) supposes for democracy. Taking Hannah Arendt's thought as a reference, the Author analyzes the role that truth plays in the political sphere and the recourse to lying as a mode of domination by totalitarian political systems where reality constitutes an uncomfortable fact. Opposite with these systems, democracies try to preserve the autonomy of citizens to shape their political preferences, in a context dominated by reason and truth, against the deformations of reality generated by the use of emotions and lies.