ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the evolution of regional party systems in Italy. While special regions displayed from the outset objective differences including strong ethno-regionalist parties, party competition in the ordinary regions was initially very similar and largely subordinate to the national party system. In 1995, a new electoral system was applied to all ordinary regions at a time of radical nationwide transformation in the party system and related processes of decentralisation and constitutional reform. This new system involved the direct election of regional presidents and soon led to the development of more distinctive regional party systems. The past decade has witnessed the bipolar dynamics of the national party system give way to a more multipolar competition, with the rise of powerful populist parties like Grillo’s Five Star Movement and Salvini’s Lega, and a consequent weakening of the centre-left Democratic Party and the centre-right Forza Italia. This development has undermined the logic of bipolar competition at national level, where government formation has proven increasingly difficult and more experimental and unstable governing coalitions have been formed. In contrast, regional party systems have survived the rise of populism and multipolarism almost intact.
