Much of the response to Mario Draghi’s appointment as Prime Minister of Italy has focused on the technocratic nature of his government. Martin J. Bull argues that while Draghi may be a technocrat, his programme is already generating a significant realignment within Italian politics

Bull, Martin J.

English

LSE Research Online

Draghi	may	be	a	banker,	but	there	is	a	significantpolitical	realignment	taking	place	behind	hisgovernment’s	technocratic	façadeMuch	of	the	response	to	Mario	Draghi’s	appointment	as	Prime	Minister	of	Italy	has	focused	on	the	technocraticnature	of	his	government.	Martin	J.	Bull	argues	that	while	Draghi	may	be	a	technocrat,	his	programme	is	alreadygenerating	a	significant	realignment	within	Italian	politics.The	new	Italian	government,	led	by	Mario	Draghi,	former	President	of	the	European	Central	Bank	and	Governor	ofthe	Bank	of	Italy,	received	resounding	votes	of	confidence	in	both	the	Chamber	of	Deputies	and	Senate	on	17-18February.	This	technocrat	with	no	parliamentary	experience,	has	put	together	a	government	that	includes	eighttechnical	ministers	and	has	the	support	of	all	the	political	parties	except	one,	the	far	right	‘Brothers	of	Italy’,	whichhas	opted	to	stay	in	opposition.Draghi	the	technocratMuch	is	being	made	of	the	technocratic	nature	of	this	government	of	‘national	unity’	whose	origins	lie	in	thecollapse,	in	January,	of	the	second	government	of	Giuseppe	Conte	and	the	subsequent	failure	of	the	parties	to	forman	alternative.	In	view	of	the	urgent	challenges	facing	Italy	on	various	fronts,	the	Italian	President,	Sergio	Mattarella,rather	than	dissolve	parliament	and	call	elections,	opted	for	a	Draghi	solution	to	see	Italy	through	to	its	nextscheduled	elections	in	March	2023.Draghi	laid	out	to	the	Senate	a	comprehensive	set	of	goals	related	to	managing	the	pandemic,	expanding	the	roll-out	of	the	vaccine	programme	and	finalising	the	use	of	the	huge	recovery	fund	(financed	by	the	EU),	in	addition	totax,	environmental	and	judicial	reforms,	alongside	other	measures	to	try	and	protect	employment.	The	sheer	scaleof	this	reform	programme	(which	Draghi	dubbed	‘New	Reconstruction’,	echoing	the	early	post-war	governments)and	its	timeline	makes	this	technocratic	government	stand	out	from	its	predecessors	(Ciampi,	Dini,	Monti),	whichhave	tended	to	be	more	narrowly	reform-specific	and	time-limited.	Furthermore,	in	stark	contrast	with	the	lasttechnocratic	government	(of	Mario	Monti,	2011-13)	where	the	main	task	was,	on	the	back	of	the	Great	Recession,administering	severe	expenditure	cuts,	Draghi’s	chief	purpose	is	to	work	out	how	best	to	spend	Italy’s	share	of	theEU’s	recovery	fund,	a	staggering	203	billion	euros.The	politics	behind	DraghiAll	of	this	changes	somewhat	the	apparent	technical	nature	of	this	government.	Draghi	himself	refuses	to	bepigeon-holed	and	says	that	his	is	simply	‘the	government	of	the	country’,	rejecting	the	idea	that	he	is	there	becauseof	‘the	failure	of	politics’,	and	insisting	that	none	of	the	parties	should	compromise	on	their	identities.	Yet,	Draghi’svery	appointment	already	appears	to	be	having	a	momentous	impact	on	the	parties,	and	we	could,	in	the	comingperiod,	witness	a	realignment	of	Italy’s	political	competition,	a	trend	which	already	began	with	the	onset	of	theCovid-19	pandemic.Prior	to	the	pandemic,	that	competition	had	been	dominated	by	a	rising	anti-establishment,	anti-EU,	anti-migrantpopulism,	in	the	form	of	both	the	Five	Star	Movement	and	Matteo	Salvini’s	League,	both	parties	seeming	to	reapthe	benefits	of	a	latent	rebellion	against	a	decade	of	austerity	imposed	by	the	EU	and	the	mainstream	parties.The	high-water	mark	of	Italian	populism	came	with	the	2018	national	elections	and	the	coming	to	power	of	a	FiveStar/League	coalition	under	Giuseppe	Conte.	While	the	Five	Star	Movement’s	popularity	waned	during	its	period	inoffice,	the	League’s	support	took	off,	and	it	walked	out	of	the	government	in	September	2019	in	the	hope	of	forcingelections	and	reaping	the	benefits.	To	avoid	that	outcome,	Conte	replaced	the	League	with	the	Democratic	Party	toform	his	second	government.	The	League	adopted	a	position	of	intransigent	opposition,	and	from	there	on	thespectre	of	Italy’s	largest	party	in	the	polls	(the	League	polling	ten	percentage	points	higher	than	either	of	the	twoparties	of	government)	hung	over	Conte’s	fragile	coalition.Figure	1:	Support	for	the	main	Italian	parties	(2019-21)LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog: Draghi may be a banker, but there is a significant political realignment taking place behind hisgovernment’s technocratic façadePage 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-02-22Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/02/22/draghi-may-be-a-banker-but-there-is-a-significant-political-realignment-taking-place-behind-his-governments-technocratic-facade/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/Note:	The	chart	illustrates	how	support	for	the	main	Italian	parties	has	changed	since	the	start	of	the	second	government	led	by	Giuseppe	Conte	(September	2019)through		the	Covid-19	pandemic	(January	2020)	until	today	(February	2021).	Source:	Elaborated	from	‘You	Trend’	data.The	impact	of	the	pandemicYet,	all	that	changed	with	the	pandemic.	Despite	the	government	confronting	rather	badly	(in	the	first	instance)	thebiggest	public	health	crisis	in	peace-time	Italy,	the	public	rallied	around	Conte	(the	‘lawyer	of	the	people’),	hispersonal	ratings	soared	and	support	for	the	governing	parties	stabilised.	The	League	meanwhile	witnessed	asteady	slide	in	its	support.	Its	anti-migration	stance	became	redundant	almost	overnight	as	the	flow	of	refugeesstopped	with	the	pandemic,	and	its	anti-EU	stance	looked	out	of	keeping	once	the	EU	forged	a	recovery	fund	fromwhich	Italy	proportionately	would	be	the	largest	recipient	of	all	27	nations.Now	today,	the	League	is,	with	its	former	ally	(the	Five	Star	Movement),	joining	a	government	headed	by	the	formerDirector	of	the	European	Central	Bank,	and	we	are	hearing	a	different	tune.	Salvini	argues	that	it	is	not	the	Leaguethat	has	changed	its	ideas,	but	Europe	(in	the	sense	of	abandoning	austerity	and	funding	a	real	recoveryprogramme).	In	reality,	he	wants	to	be	around	the	table	to	influence	decisions	on	how	and	when	the	funding	shouldbe	spent.	Yet,	he	may	find	it	difficult	to	have	his	cake	and	eat	it.	When	asked	if	he	was	now	accepting	the	euro	asinevitable,	his	retort	was	that	the	only	thing	inevitable	in	life	was	death.	Draghi,	in	his	speech	to	the	Senate,pointedly	made	clear	that,	for	anybody	supporting	his	government,	the	euro	was	an	‘irreversible	choice’.End	of	a	Eurosceptic	era?As	nearly	all	the	parties	line	up	behind	a	European	banker,	where	does	that	leave	Italy’s	renowned	anti-establishment,	anti-EU	populism?	Opposition	to	Draghi	rests	now	with	the	right-wing	Brothers	of	Italy,	led	by	GiorgiaMeloni.	Yet,	her	opposition	appears	to	be	a	more	principled	one,	based	on	a	rejection	of	technocrats	to	solve	Italy’sproblems.	She	is	evidently	hoping	that,	if	things	go	badly	for	Draghi,	the	Brothers	of	Italy	will	reap	the	dividends	andbuild	further	on	their	support,	which	has	been	rising	during	the	pandemic.LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog: Draghi may be a banker, but there is a significant political realignment taking place behind hisgovernment’s technocratic façadePage 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-02-22Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/02/22/draghi-may-be-a-banker-but-there-is-a-significant-political-realignment-taking-place-behind-his-governments-technocratic-facade/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/Draghi,	then,	may	be	a	technocrat	brought	in	to	design	a	programme	of	reform	that	sits	above	the	parties.	But	hisvery	appointment	and	his	programme	is	already	causing	a	significant	realignment	of	the	political	forces	behind	him,bringing	to	an	end	Italy’s	flirtation	with	‘Italexit’,	and	laying	the	basis	for	a	return	of	the	country	to	its	erstwhileposition	of	being	one	of	the	most	Europhile	of	all	nations.Note:	This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	not	the	position	of	EUROPP	–	European	Politics	and	Policy	or	theLondon	School	of	Economics.	Featured	image	credit:	Presidenza	della	Repubblica	(Public	Domain)LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog: Draghi may be a banker, but there is a significant political realignment taking place behind hisgovernment’s technocratic façadePage 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-02-22Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/02/22/draghi-may-be-a-banker-but-there-is-a-significant-political-realignment-taking-place-behind-his-governments-technocratic-facade/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/

Draghi may be a banker, but there is a significant political realignment taking place behind his government’s technocratic façade

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/109094/1/europpblog_2021_02_22_draghi_may_be_a_banker_but_there_is_a.pdf

Draghi may be a banker, but there is a significant political realignment taking place behind his government’s technocratic façade

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

LSE Research Online