What’s a ‘scampagnata’ and how to do it the Italian way

Abraham Smith

Readers have contacted us over the past few days to express their concerns about the outcome of Italy’s elections, and many questioned how Italian voters could hand the Brethren of Italy a landslide victory (Fratelli d’Italia or FDI) a far-right party with roots in the post-fascist movement.

“I’m trying to understand why most of the voters in Italy are for this party? Haven’t we learned anything from history?” asked an Italian-American reader in the United States.

EXPLAINING: What will a far-right government mean for Italy?

But even if some headlines or even the election results do not seem so at first glance, the majority of voters did not actually vote for Meloni’s party – and many people in Italy did not vote at all.

Political analysts also say there has been no real evidence of the “sharp right turn” described in many international media reports. Voter views in Italy as a whole are not necessarily shifting to the right or becoming more extreme: however, Meloni has been very successful in uniting existing right-wing voters.

Her strong right-wing alliance, lack of a credible opposition and a pro-coalition electoral system all worked in Meloni’s favour. Here’s a quick look at what that means:

FdI took the right vote from other parties

While it may seem like Italy has taken a sharp right turn – especially at first glance those overwhelmingly blue cards – Political analysts say strong support for the right in Italy has long been at about the same level but was previously divided.

as dr Daniele Albertazzi, Politics Professor at the University of Birmingham, psums it up in his analysis: “Brothers of Italy has received little support from outside the right.”

Data shows that Meloni likely received much of her recent surge in support from Italy’s other right-wing parties, notably the Lega and small far-right parties, while right-wing supporters of Italy’s populist Five Star Movement are also likely to have voted for the right-wing coalition this time.

The FdI’s success was based on being the largest party in a strong right-wing coalition, able to appeal to voters ranging from the more moderate center to the extreme right.

Many moderate voters said they would give Meloni a chance because other party leaders are almost all familiar faces who have tried to run the country before – Enrico Letta, Giuseppe Conte, Matteo Renzi and Silvio Berlusconi have all been prime ministers at least once before.

While Meloni has been involved in politics for many years, she was previously unknown to most voters. Her profile has risen astronomically over the past 18 months after she opted to make the FdI the only party in opposition to Mario Draghi’s broad “national unity” government and with her presentation the voice of protest (last directed to the populist M5S and League) as the only alternative to the status quo.

Voter turnout was historically low

A low turnout, especially in the south, is said to have contributed to the election result.

Voter turnout fell to a low of around 64 percent, down around nine points from the last election in 2018, and the lowest ever turnout in an Italian general election.

Voter turnout was significantly lower in the southern regions, with the lowest voter turnout ever in the Calabria region at 50.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the highest turnout was recorded in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, each at around 70 percent. This area happens to be the heartland of far-right parties including the Brothers of Italy and the Lega (formerly called the Lega Nord).

About one in four who voted in Sunday’s election supported Melonis Brothers of Italy.

In the last elections of 2018, southern Italy overwhelmingly voted for the Five Star Movement, which vowed to tackle poverty, inequality and other issues affecting mostly southern regions while railing against the political establishment.

But the party apparently failed to impress when it came into government and has since lost much support. She also chose to run alone rather than ally with other parties, which put her at a disadvantage.

Italy’s electoral system favors coalitions

The complete failure of the centre-left party to form a strong coalition to fight the election is also believed to have contributed to the right’s landslide victory.

Such alliances are of paramount importance in Italy due to the way the electoral system works. About 37 percent of seats in both chambers of parliament are allocated on a first-past-the-post basis in single-member constituencies, benefiting parties running in coalitions. (For an explanation of how Italy’s particularly complicated hybrid voting system works, click here.)

As a result, the right-wing bloc was able to take more seats in parliament than anyone else, with 44 percent of the vote Centre- and centre-left parties to 49 percent, mainly because they merged and they didn’t.

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