Turning over a new leaf? Cohesion and discipline in the Italian parliament

Newell, JL

Abstract

The literature on parties suggests various hypotheses about the conditions under which the cohesion and discipline of parliamentary parties will be greater or lesser. Since one such hypothesis concerns party‐system characteristics, Italy offers an opportunity to investigate what happens to cohesion and discipline when a system characterised by the permanence in office of a large, centrally located party and based on the permanent exclusion of left and right extremes, is replaced by one characterised by strong bi‐polar tendencies and the alternation in office of two competing coalitions. Italy's transformation appears to have produced more cohesive and disciplined behaviour in parliament.

Citation

Newell, J. (2000). Turning over a new leaf? Cohesion and discipline in the Italian parliament. Journal of Legislative Studies, 6(4), 29-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572330008420638

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2000
• Deposit Date: Jul 26, 2011
• Journal: The Journal of Legislative Studies
• Print ISSN: 1357-2334
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 29-52
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13572330008420638
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13572330008420638