ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 discusses the current view of Italian political parties towards the external voting policy and the political engagement of Italian transnational communities. The aim of this chapter is to understand the reasons behind the implementation of the external voting policy in Italy and the current perspective on the enfranchisement of non-resident citizens.
This chapter includes original qualitative data collected by the author. In-depth interviews with the representatives of the main Italian political parties have been conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of the current political parties’ view on the rationale and challenges related to the engagement of the Italians living abroad. This chapter provides insights on the electoral drivers that have pushed political parties to support (or reject) the external voting policies. Moreover, this chapter demonstrates how and why, over time, some political parties changed their mind on this policy due to political and electoral convenience.
