Italian politics in an era of recession : the end of bipolarism?

Italian politics have undergone momentous change in the 2007–2017 decade under the impact of the eurozone crisis, whose peak in 2011–2013 could be equated to the earlier watershed years of 1992–1994. The lasting impact of the upheaval in Italian politics in the early 1990s could still be felt in the decade of economic recession, but there were also new challenges prompted by a crisis that had its roots in international financial contagion and which unravelled under the shadow of both recession and austerity. The changes were of an economic, social, cultural, institutional, policy-oriented and political nature. If one central quintessentially political theme stands out by the end of this decade it is the apparent exhaustion of the quest for bipolarisation that was initiated in the early 1990s

Candidate, Political

A political candidate is the person who strives to win political offices, essentially through electoral procedures. The word originates from the Latin candidatus, \u201cman in white,\u201d referring to the white robe (toga) that Romans standing for a public office used to wear, which symbolized the untarnished moral qualities that were considered to be the indispensable characteristics of a political man. David Easton\u2019s analytical framework (1965) offers the best way to approach the subject. The \u201ccandidate\u201d can be located in the fragile interconnection point that joins the flow of demands and support from the environment to the political system. Before their (first) candidacy, all candidates are part of the political community. Then, as candidates, they play the role of input carriers. They are messengers carrying demands, who strive for the support of the voters and of the political community at large. Finally, if elected, they form part of the authorities who convert demands into outputs, that is, who make legally binding decisions. The input\u2013output process involves some procedures and some \u201crules of the game\u201d that, according to Easton, are part of the regime and regulate the processes leading to a member of the political community being selected as a candidate and, if elected, becoming part of the authorities

Deliberative polls

Deliberative polls are an instrument whose aim is to provide a more accurate, scientific representation of public opinion based on information and careful consideration rather than on \u201ctop of the head\u201d opinions. By exposing random samples of population to balanced information and opposing arguments, people are encouraged to challenge their embedded opinions by discussing with heterogeneous interlocutors having divergent points of view. The resulting change in opinion represents the conclusions the public would reach, if the people had the opportunity to become more informed and involved by the issues

A universal two-way approach for estimating unknown frequencies for unknown number of sinusoids in a signal based on eigenspace analysis of Hankel matrix

YesWe develop a novel approach to estimate the n unknown constituent frequencies of a noiseless signal that comprises of unknown number, n, of sinusoids of unknown phases and unknown amplitudes. The new two way approach uses two constraints to accurately estimate the unknown frequencies of the sinusoidal components in a signal. The new approach serves as a verification test for the estimated unknown frequencies through the estimated count of the unknown number of frequencies. The Hankel matrix, of the time domain samples of the signal, is used as a basis for further analysis in the Pisarenko harmonic decomposition. The new constraints, the Existence Factor (EF) and the Component Factor (CF), have been introduced in the methodology based on the relationships between the components of the sinusoidal signal and the eigenspace of the Hankel matrix. The performance of the developed approach has been tested to correctly estimate any number of frequencies within a signal with or without a fixed unknown bias. The method has also been tested to accurately estimate the very closely spaced low frequencies.Innovate U

Vent’anni di elezione diretta del sindaco a Bologna

The article retraces the last 20 years of direct mayoral election in Bologna. It shows how the changes in institutional and electoral settings influenced both the party system and voters' electoral responses. By analysing the electoral history of the city, we also show that personalization raised, electoral competition became more (bi)polarized, electoral turnout gradually decreased, voting results became less and less predictable attenuating Bologna past exceptionalism. This article fills a gap in a literature that has not yet offered a longitudinal study of electoral changes in Bologna since the 1990s. More precisely, the article gives an analysis of both the political supply and the electoral flows to understand how party system has changed and if and how voters have become more mobile

La issue immigrazione nell'opinione pubblica europea e nei programmi delle elezioni regionali italiane

Questo capitolo del Rapporto prende in considerazione tre aspetti. Il primo, trattato nel paragrafo 1, prosegue nel solco dell’ormai lunga serie storica delle analisi dei dati Eurobarometro sull’importanza attribuita dai cittadini europei alla issue immigrazione. L’Eurobarometro rappresenta la migliore fonte di informazioni relative alle opinioni dei cittadini degli Stati membri dell’Unione europea. Anche per il 2023, confrontando i dati dell’Eurobarometro del 2022, abbiamo cercato di capire quanto il tema immigrazione sia percepito dai cittadini italiani (con un confronto con la percezione negli altri Stati membri dell’Unione europea) dal punto di vista della salienza individuale e collettiva. Nel paragrafo successivo si analizzano i programmi elettorali dei principali partiti e coalizioni che si sono presentati alle elezioni in tre regioni (Lombardia, Lazio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia) nella prima metà dell’anno 2023 per il rinnovo della Giunta e del Consiglio regionale. Rispetto ad altre consultazioni elettorali precedenti (così come nella competizione per il rinnovo del Parlamento italiano del 25 settembre 2022) e anche rispetto ad altri temi, la issue immigrazione non ha catalizzato una forte attenzione, e viene trattata solo marginalmente nei programmi dei partiti, pur tenendo conto che il livello regionale, a differenza di quello locale e nazionale, vede il tema migratorio in modo meno centrale rispetto ad altri nelle politiche pubbliche (ad esempio, sanità e trasporti). La issue immigrazione nell’opinione pubblica europea e nei programmi delle elezioni regionali italiane Nel paragrafo 3, si prende in considerazione il comportamento degli attori istituzionali e del sistema partitico italiano, a partire soprattutto dalla tragedia di Cutro, rispetto alla crescita esponenziale dell’interesse mediatico che ha avuto la issue immigrazione nel corso del 2023. Si presenta un'analisi sia delle dinamiche tra maggioranza e opposizione e delle diverse strategie da parte di leader e partiti politici all’interno della stessa maggioranza, sia delle strategie comunicative e del processo decisionale tra governo nazionale, Commissione europea e il resto della struttura istituzionale in Europa (a partire dalle riunioni del Consiglio europeo), e tra il governo centrale e i livelli intermedi (regioni ed enti locali). Ne emerge un quadro variegato a dimostrazione che il tema immigrazione ancora non viene inserito in una coerente strategia di medio e lungo periodo in tutti i livelli istituzionali, ma viene privilegiato invece un approccio tattico di breve periodo

Il posto dell'immigrazione nelle ultime elezioni europee

Il presente capitolo del Rapporto si inserisce all’interno di una riflessione politologica che Fondazione ISMU ETS da anni porta avanti sulla relazione tra immigrazione e politica. Tra il 6 e 9 giugno 2024 i cittadini dei 27 Stati membri dell’Unione europea si sono recati alle urne per eleggere i propri rappresentanti al Parlamento europeo. Come già emerso da studi e analisi – precedentemente realizzati dalla nostra Fondazione su scala nazionale, regionale e locale – dell’intreccio Europa, politica, immigrazione, anche in questa ultima tornata elettorale il tema “immigrazione” si è rivelato particolarmente divisivo. Nel dibattito pubblico, nel rapporto tra opinione pubblica e offerta politica e nelle dinamiche competitive tra i partiti, sono ormai messi in discussione alcuni valori un tempo condivisi dalle liberal-democrazie europee contemporanee. In effetti, da tempo, sull’immigrazione, e di conseguenza anche sull’identità dell’Unione europea, emerge la difficoltà di condividere un orizzonte culturale comune. È certamente difficile fare un bilancio complessivo del voto del 6-9 giugno 2024 nei 27 Stati membri perché le elezioni europee, essendo “di second’ordine”, riflettono spesso dinamiche interne a ciascun Paese più che trend sovranazionali. Ancora più complicato è mettere in relazione i risultati del voto con l’importanza che l’elettorato ha accordato alla issue immigrazione. Tuttavia, nelle pagine che seguono abbiamo cercato di descrivere e interpretare, attraverso l’analisi dei programmi elettorali, il mutamento del quadro politico che emerge nel Vecchio continente, proprio a partire dal rapporto, spesso di tensione, tra Europa e immigrazione

The 2018 Italian General Elections: Focus on immigration

The previous report (ISMU Foundation, 2018) analysed the relationship between immigration and politics in light of the results of the political elections that took place in 2017 in a number of European states (France, Germany, Holland and the United King-dom). Similarly, this chapter will present some results from the analysis of the electoral programmes of the main competing parties in the Italian elections of 4 March 2018. We will focus particularly on two issues: attitudes towards migration and the European Un-ion. After presenting the electoral results, we shall analyse the same issues within the so-called \u201cgovernment contract\u201d drafted and signed by the two political forces, the MS5 (the Five Star Movement) and the Lega (the League) that, at the beginning of the legisla-ture, formed a new and unprecedented majority

Psychological treatments and psychotherapies in the neurorehabilitation of pain. Evidences and recommendations from the italian consensus conference on pain in neurorehabilitation

BACKGROUND: It is increasingly recognized that treating pain is crucial for effective care within neurological rehabilitation in the setting of the neurological rehabilitation. The Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation was constituted with the purpose identifying best practices for us in this context. Along with drug therapies and physical interventions, psychological treatments have been proven to be some of the most valuable tools that can be used within a multidisciplinary approach for fostering a reduction in pain intensity. However, there is a need to elucidate what forms of psychotherapy could be effectively matched with the specific pathologies that are typically addressed by neurorehabilitation teams. OBJECTIVES: To extensively assess the available evidence which supports the use of psychological therapies for pain reduction in neurological diseases. METHODS: A systematic review of the studies evaluating the effect of psychotherapies on pain intensity in neurological disorders was performed through an electronic search using PUBMED, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Based on the level of evidence of the included studies, recommendations were outlined separately for the different conditions. RESULTS: The literature search yielded 2352 results and the final database included 400 articles. The overall strength of the recommendations was medium/low. The different forms of psychological interventions, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, cognitive or behavioral techniques, Mindfulness, hypnosis, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Brief Interpersonal Therapy, virtual reality interventions, various forms of biofeedback and mirror therapy were found to be effective for pain reduction in pathologies such as musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Central Post-Stroke pain, Phantom Limb Pain, pain secondary to Spinal Cord Injury, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating syndromes, diabetic neuropathy, Medically Unexplained Symptoms, migraine and headache. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological interventions and psychotherapies are safe and effective treatments that can be used within an integrated approach for patients undergoing neurological rehabilitation for pain. The different interventions can be specifically selected depending on the disease being treated. A table of evidence and recommendations from the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation is also provided in the final part of the pape