Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement: Organisation, Communication and IdeologyIn 2009 Beppe Grillo, a well-known Italian comedian, established the Five Star Movement with the aim of sending a handful of citizens to municipal councils to act as the watchdog of a professional political class often perceived as corrupt and self-interested. However, in the Italian general elections of February 2013, despite still largely being considered a small protest movement, the party gained the undisputed role of leading political actor gaining just under 9 million votes and sending 163 Deputies and Senators to the Italian parliament. The birth and rapid rise of the Five Star Movement represents an electoral earthquake with no parallels in Italy and the whole of post-1945 Western Europe and a phenomenon likely to shape the Italian political scene for many years to come. Drawing on an extensive array of data and face-to-face interviews, this volume offers an empirically grounded explanation of the surprising electoral success of the Five Star Movement and presents a realistic picture of this party in its manifold aspects: organisational structure, communication style, linkages with civil society, ideological nature and positioning in the Italian political system. |
Contents
The Organization of the Movimento 5 Stelle A Contradictory Party Model | |
Between Blog Social Networks and Territory Activists and Grassroots | |
The Electoral Base The Political Revolution in Evolution | |
From Citizens to Members of Parliament The Elected Representatives in | |
An InternetFuelled Party? The Movimento 5 Stelle and the | |
The Movimento 5 Stelle and Social Conflicts Between Symbiosis | |
A Voter Like Any Other? Exploring the Protest Component in the Vote for | |
Beyond Protest Issues and Ideological Inconsistencies in the Voters of | |
Conclusion The Organisational and Ideological Roots of the Electoral Success | |
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2012 local elections 2013 general elections Accessed 17 February activists activities assembly behaviour Beppe Grillo Beppegrillo.it blog Berlusconi bills blog Bologna Bordignon candidates Casaleggio Ceccarini cent Chamber of Deputies chapter citizens civic lists coalition Coluche communication Corbetta dimension direct democracy elected representatives electoral base electoral success elite Emilia-Romagna European Facebook Figure Five Star Forza Italia Grillo’s blog Grillo’s party ideological initiative institutions Internet issues Italian political Italy La Repubblica leader leadership left-libertarian left-right leftist Lega Nord Liguria M5S electorate M5S MPs M5S voters manifesto Meetup meetup.com Movimento 5 Stelle Mulino municipal organisation parliament parliamentary group participation Partito Democratico party in central party’s percentage phase platform politica political discontent political parties political protest populist position primary elections programme protest vote regional elections role senators Sicily social movements Star Movement Table Tuorto University Press V-Day Vignati vote for M5S YouTube