Setting the scene: Filling the Gaps in Populism Studies

This article introduces the conceptual and analytical framework for the special issue, which explores the cultural side of populism: the relationships between politics, emotions, music, and subcultures in populist contexts. We highlight the role that cultural and symbolic 'products' (such as music, emotions, narratives, and visual symbols) play in the emergence and spread of populism. First, we explore the opportunities afforded by understanding the concept of populism from a cultural/symbolic point of view, reaching beyond the traditional party politics literature to which it is usually confined. Second, we suggest different ways in which populism has been articulated in various European countries (e.g. popular cultures, subcultures) since the economic crisis of 2008, emphasizing music, narratives, visuals, and emotions as means of the populist symbolic construction of the political and social reality. Third, from a social movement perspective, we reflect on the mechanisms (cognitive, emotional, normative) that may help understanding the current populist 'momentum', as well as on the methods to empirically grasp them

Macro- And Microvascular Functions In Cystic Fibrosis Adults Without Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Case-Control Study.

Increasing survival from cystic fibrosis show untypical systems involvement, such as cardiocirculatory. In particular, the presence of CFTR in smooth muscle and endothelial cells, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress could explain vascular alterations in these patients. We aimed at noninvasely evaluating macro- and microvascular dysfunction in cystic fibrosis adults without cardiovascular risk factors. Twenty-twoadults affected by cystic fibrosis and 24 healthy volunteers matched for age and sex were enrolled. None had known cardiovascular risk factors. All people underwent blood pressure measurement, microvascular function assessment by EndoPAT-2000 device (calculating RH-PAT index) and macrovascular evaluation by pulse wave velocity (PWV). RH-PAT index was significantly lower in patients than in controls (1.74±0.59 vs 2.33±0.34; p<0.001). Thirteen patients of 22 had a value inferior to the threshold of 1.67 (59.1%), while no controls had (p<0.001). Carotid-femoral PWV did not differ between the two groups (5.2±1.5 m/s vs 5.4±1.1; p=0.9), while brachial-ankle one did (11.0±2.2 m/s vs 10.1±0.8 m/s; p=0.04).Adults patients affected by cystic fibrosis show peripheral endothelial dysfunction, which is the first alteration in atherosclerotic phenomenon. Moreover, arterial stiffness measured by PWV unclearly seems to differ respect of healthy people, perhaps because PWV alterations are typical of above 50 years old people. It is unclear what prognostic role of future developing of atherosclerotic disease these findings could be, but it seems evident that cystic fibrosis directly affects cardiovascular system itself

A Randomized Trial of Pharmacogenetic Warfarin Dosing in Naive Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation

Genotype-guided warfarin dosing have been proposed to improve patient's management. This study is aimed to determine whether a CYP2C9- VKORC1- CYP4F2-based pharmacogenetic algorithm is superior to a standard, clinically adopted, pharmacodynamic method. Two-hundred naive patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to trial arms and 180 completed the study. No significant differences were found in the number of out-of-range INRs (INR3.0) (p = 0.79) and in the mean percentage of time spent in the therapeutic range (TTR) after 19 days in the pharmacogenetic (51.9%) and in the control arm (53.2%, p = 0.71). The percentage of time spent at INR>4.0 was significantly lower in the pharmacogenetic (0.7%) than in the control arm (1.8%) (p = 0.02). Genotype-guided warfarin dosing is not superior in overall anticoagulation control when compared to accurate clinical standard of care

Setting the scene: Filling the Gaps in Populism Studies

This article introduces the conceptual and analytical framework for the special issue, which explores the cultural side of populism: the relationships between politics, emotions, music, and subcultures in populist contexts. We highlight the role that cultural and symbolic 'products' (such as music, emotions, narratives, and visual symbols) play in the emergence and spread of populism. First, we explore the opportunities afforded by understanding the concept of populism from a cultural/symbolic point of view, reaching beyond the traditional party politics literature to which it is usually confined. Second, we suggest different ways in which populism has been articulated in various European countries (e.g. popular cultures, subcultures) since the economic crisis of 2008, emphasizing music, narratives, visuals, and emotions as means of the populist symbolic construction of the political and social reality. Third, from a social movement perspective, we reflect on the mechanisms (cognitive, emotional, normative) that may help understanding the current populist 'momentum', as well as on the methods to empirically grasp them

“Part of the Elite”?: Anti-Austerity Populism and Trade Unionism in Italy and Spain

A broad literature has analyzed the effects of Mediterranean welfare regimes on the political-electoral sphere and on the policy making process. Part of the literature on the insider-outsider divide has identified in the insiders the real core-constituency of the social democratic parties. The union movement, politically linked to the main left-of-center parties, would similarly show poor ability of representing the interests of the outsiders. Since the beginning of the Great Recession, new parties advancing a populist discourse have been able to attract vast segments of the leftist electorate. This article focuses on Podemos and the Five Star Movement and explores, mainly through in-depth interviews with political and union leaders, to which extent the critiques advanced by these parties towards the union organizations are motivated by the normative implications of the insider-outsider literature. The analysis shows that the critiques are more related with the ancillary role played by the unions towards their political referents than with their supposed “over-protection” of the insiders. However, it emerges that the stances assumed by the two parties towards unionism diverge, due to different ideological and “meta-political” roots: while Podemos can potentially develop a relationship of cooperation with trade unionism, the Five Star Movement positions itself as a competitor.Una amplia literatura ha analizado los efectos de los regímenes de bienestar mediterráneos sobre la esfera político-electoral y el proceso de policy-making. Una parte de la literatura, enfocándose en la división entre insiders y outsiders del mercado laboral, ha identificado en los insiders la core-constituency de los partidos socialdemócratas. Tampoco el movimiento sindical, políticamente ligado a los principales partidos de centro izquierda, parece haber sabido representar satisfactoriamente los intereses de los outsiders. Desde el comienzo de la gran recesión, en Europa del Sur nuevos partidos populistas han sabido capturar amplios sectores del electorado de izquierda. Este artículo se enfoca en Podemos y el Movimiento Cinco Estrellas italiano, y analiza, principalmente a través de entrevistas en profundidad con representantes partidarios y sindicales, en qué medida las críticas avanzadas por estos partidos hacia el movimiento sindical mainstream se refieren, directa o indirectamente, a las consecuencias normativas de los argumentos esgrimidos por la literatura sobre dualización del Estado de bienestar. El análisis demuestra que dichas críticas apuntan más a los lazos entre sindicatos y partidos «viejos» que a una supuesta «sobreprotección» de los insiders. Sin embargo, las posturas de estos partidos hacia los sindicatos difieren, debido a sus diferentes raíces ideológicas y «metapolíticas». Por ende, hay bases para predecir una posible cooperación entre Podemos y los grandes sindicatos españoles, mientras que el Movimiento Cinco Estrellas se presenta abiertamente como un competidor de las organizaciones sindicales

Electoral Realignments within the Left in the Aftermath of Neoliberal Crises. A Critical Juncture Framework for Latin America and Southern Europe

The Latin American "Turn to the Left" consisted in either the consolidation of traditional left-of-centre parties or the emergence of new anti-neoliberal populist projects that decisively shaped the respective national party systems in reaction to major neoliberal crises. Some Southern European countries similarly experienced the rise of new populist parties (Podemos, Syriza and the Five Star Movement) while in Portugal we witnessed the consolidation of the existing left-of-centre parties. This article proposes a middle-range theory to give a cross-regional account of the eventual emergence of different anti-neoliberal populist parties in the aftermath of a neoliberal economic crisis. The argument focuses on the heterogeneity of such an 'Anti-Neoliberal Populism' category, by looking at the party organisation and the relationship with the unions and with the anti-austerity social movements. The framework thus proposes four different categories of "successful political projects" emerged in the aftermath of the crisis: a "Labour-based Left" (in Uruguay and Portugal); a "party-rooted populism" (in Argentina and Greece); a "movement (based) populism" (in Bolivia and Spain); and a "leader-initiated populism" (in Venezuela and Italy).<br /

The role of social movements in the \u2018second incorporation\u2019 of popular sectors in Bolivia and Argentina

Latin American 'Pink Tide' has been functionally interpreted as a 'second wave of incorporation' of the popular sectors in the polity domain after their 'disincorporation' and/or exclusion by authoritarian regimes and/or neoliberal reforms. This contribution proposes a comparative analysis of the roles played by social movements in Bolivian and Argentinean "second incorporations", by relying on fifty in-depth interviews with partisan and movement leaders in both countries, in order to assess the different characteristics and consequences of the processes of "second incorporation" in the two countries. The paper argues that the extent to which such actors provide an encompassing representation of 'excluded sectors' is key to understand how different forms of political incorporation shaped different 'social blocs' either supporting or contrasting progressive political projects in power, and eventually created the conditions, in the medium term, for the electoral rise of right-wing opponents.Destacados autores han argumentado que el \u201cgiro a la izquierda\u201d en Am\ue9rica Latina tuvo la funci\uf3n hist\uf3rica de incorporar pol\uedticamente a amplios sectores populares que carec\uedan de estructuras de representaci\uf3n de sus intereses. Este art\uedculo propone una comparaci\uf3n entre los procesos de \u201cincorporaci\uf3n a trav\ue9s de movimientos sociales\u201d en Bolivia y Argentina, utilizando evidencias cualitativas (procedentes de cincuenta entrevistas en profundidad, recolectadas en marzo-mayo 2017, con actores pol\uedticos y sociales de los dos pa\uedses) para poner en relieve las diferentes caracter\uedsticas y consecuencias de los dos procesos de \u201csegunda incorporaci\uf3n\u201d. El art\uedculo muestra que el nivel de representatividad de los movimientos sociales que se encargaron de incorporar a los sectores excluidos resulta clave para entender c\uf3mo los procesos de incorporaci\uf3n en Bolivia y Argentina articularon distintos bloques sociales (a favor y en contra de los gobiernos de izquierda) y, por ende, contribuyeron de forma distinta a la consolidaci\uf3n, en el mediano plazo, de proyectos pol\uedticos opositores

Electoral Realignments within the Left in the Aftermath of Neoliberal Crises. A Critical Juncture Framework for Latin America and Southern Europe

The Latin American "Turn to the Left" consisted in either the consolidation of traditional left-of-centre parties or the emergence of new anti-neoliberal populist projects that decisively shaped the respective national party systems in reaction to major neoliberal crises. Some Southern European countries similarly experienced the rise of new populist parties (Podemos, Syriza and the Five Star Movement) while in Portugal we witnessed the consolidation of the existing left-of-centre parties. This article proposes a middle-range theory to give a cross-regional account of the eventual emergence of different anti-neoliberal populist parties in the aftermath of a neoliberal economic crisis. The argument focuses on the heterogeneity of such an 'Anti-Neoliberal Populism' category, by looking at the party organisation and the relationship with the unions and with the anti-austerity social movements. The framework thus proposes four different categories of "successful political projects" emerged in the aftermath of the crisis: a "Labour-based Left" (in Uruguay and Portugal); a "party-rooted populism" (in Argentina and Greece); a "movement (based) populism" (in Bolivia and Spain); and a "leader-initiated populism" (in Venezuela and Italy)

Populismo vs Sinistra : il Movimento 5 Stelle da Beppe Grillo a Giuseppe Conte in prospettiva comparata.

Il volume suggerisce d’inserire il M5S all’interno della famiglia dei “populismi antineoliberali”, cresciuti dopo profonde crisi in società segmentate, come quelle latinoamericane e mediterranee, al fine di comprenderne le ragioni del successo e le caratteristiche organizzative- ideologiche. Sono analizzati prima i principali lavori teorici sul concetto di populismo, per proporre una categorizzazione dei diversi fenomeni e osservarne i tratti “movimentisti” e “statisti-sovranisti”. In seguito viene presentata l’interrogazione centrale del volume: se i “populismi antineoliberali” sono emersi ove le cosiddette sinistre tradizionali siano venute meno alla loro funzione di rappresentanza e integrazione. Le diverse forme assunte dai “populismi anti-neoliberali” variano a seconda delle caratteristiche dei movimenti sociali di protesta contro le politiche di austerità, e a seconda delle capacità di adattamento dei partiti esistenti nei confronti di un ambiente socio-politico in ebollizione. A differenza di altri esempi, il M5S appartiene maggiormente alla sottocategoria di populismo leaderistico, con specifiche caratteristiche ideologiche-organizzative e diverse classi sociali di riferimento. Le peculiarità ideologico-organizzative assunte dal Movimento, sin dagli albori, sono fondamentali per comprenderne l’evoluzione e i profondi cambiamenti avvenuti sino alla fase attuale del partito, presieduto – ma forse ancora non guidato – da Giuseppe Conte