Prime Minister Primaries: Candidate Selection between Innovation and Manipulation
in Italian PoliticsSearch for other papers by Gianfranco Pasquino in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Marco Valbruzzi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This chapter analyzes the processes of candidate selection in Italy for the main political parties facing the 2013 general election. In particular, the authors investigate and evaluate the primary elections organized, in November–December 2012, by the center-left coalition (composed of the Democratic Party, Left Ecology and Freedom, and the Italian Socialist Party) for the selection of the candidate to the office of president of the Council of Ministers. The chapter explores in detail the main issues at the center of the electoral campaign, the candidates involved in the process of selection, the socio-demographic profile of the “selectorate,” the electoral results of the primary elections, and their consequences for the consolidation of the Italian party system.