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An Indicator for the Measurement of Political Participation: The Case of Italy

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Abstract

In the modern globalized world, political participation is of paramount importance for balanced socio-economic growth and for human development. The Indagine Multiscopo sulle famiglie, a survey by Italian public institutions (ISTAT and CNEL), provides a wide range of data to evaluate specific aspects of Italian life. This work uses a set of data from the Indagine to analyse political participation in Italy at a regional level, by means of a composite indicator using parametric (Pena’s distance) and non-parametric (Mazziotta–Pareto Index) techniques. We have obtained a ranking that shows the level of political participation in different territorial contexts. The aim is to analyse the relation between Italian regions and the political behaviour of their communities: political discussions, participation in political meetings and marches, voluntary activity or donations to political parties and so on. The ranking is not correlated to voter turnout. We can assume that the politically engaged minority are unable to convince and involve the rest. At the same time, these small groups do not alter the general mistrust in parties and, generally speaking, in politics, which is spreading across Italy and also Europe.

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Notes

  1. For a systematic review see Uhlaner (2001).

  2. The sample survey Aspetti della vita quotidiana, drawn up by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), is part of an integrated system of social surveys—the Indagini Multiscopo sulle famiglie—and it reveals basic information concerning the daily life of individuals and families. Such information allows us to learn about people's habits and the problems citizens face every day. In particular, the investigation concerns school, work, family life and relationships, leisure, social and political participation, health, lifestyle, access to services.

  3. We have considered a smaller number of variables than in many other studies (see Nayak and Mishra 2012), which cover several different aspects of the phenomenon under scrutiny. However, the stability of the indexes suggests that the methods and results used are sound.

  4. The Italian Constitution (1948) gave a specific autonomous status to these Regions, due to their particular geographical situation (the two large islands Sardinia and Sicily) or their linguistic heterogeneity (Trentino Alto-Adige, the Aosta Valley, Friuli Venezia Giulia). They have a wider legislative power and enjoy a lighter fiscal regime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Genova, via Vivaldi 5, 16126, Genoa, Italy

    Enrico Ivaldi & Riccardo Soliani

  2. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Guido Bonatti

Authors
  1. Enrico Ivaldi
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  2. Guido Bonatti
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  3. Riccardo Soliani
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Correspondence to Enrico Ivaldi.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 Variables and their respective ranks
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Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Voter turnout (Italian Political Elections 2013)
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Ivaldi, E., Bonatti, G. & Soliani, R. An Indicator for the Measurement of Political Participation: The Case of Italy. Soc Indic Res 132, 605–620 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1303-8

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