Inside the crisis of "party on the ground"

The aim of this article is to analyze the transformations of the Italian parties, using Katz and Mair’s approach of the three organizational faces of parties. According to the two authors the crisis of the parties exists, it is characterized as selective: it specifically concerns the "party on the ground", but not in central office or in public office. Rather, today’s parties seem more and more centralized and centered on the State. The article wants to verify the existence of the crisis on the ground from the point of view of the middle-level élitess (the delegates to the Congresses) of the main Italian parties: Rc, Pdci, Ds, Dl-Margherita, Udeur, Udc and Fi. The article thus examines delegates’ committment, their "social capital" and their attitudes toward the party organization. From the used data set it emerges that the intra-party power is not only in the control of the institutions, but, rather, it also concentrates in the border between the "party in central" and "in public office". Besides, for the sub-leaders the "party on the ground" is not a passive and declining aspect of political parties, but it rather constitutes a strategic element to activate, even with ad hoc policies ad hoc (as primary election).

Keywords: Political Participation; Political Parties; Italian Political System; Social Capital; Political Organization.

Francesco Raniolo, Dentro la crisi del "party on the ground" in "PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO" 0/2008, pp , DOI: