ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some profound political transformations over the past decade or so. It provides evidence of emergence of some key elements of the New Political Culture (NPC), sometimes even in countries that one might consider unlikely locales for emergence of NPC-type politics. Perhaps the most profound political transformation of the late twentieth century was the self-destruction of Communist leadership in Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. The consequence of decline has often been the emergence of new socio-political moments, as the NPC propositions consider. The Italian case seems to be an interesting test of the NPC model. New actions typical of the post-materialistic values and of an NPC were also implemented by local governments, such as the building of cycling paths, the closing to traffic of city centers, the installation of recycling bells. The chapter describes that the major transformations, as characterized by their close interpreters, are consistent with core elements of the NPC.
