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Examining and Explaining the Northern League's ‘U-Turn’ from Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Raj S. Chari ,
Suvi Iltanen  and
Sylvia Kritzinger
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Abstract

Set in the context of the larger literature on regionalist parties and specifically on the Italian Northern League, this paper examines and explains why the party moved from Euro-positivism to Euroscepticism. Drawing on concepts raised in the larger comparative politics literature, five explanations of this U-turn towards Europe are evaluated. It is argued that, despite the strength of explanations that focus on the desires of party supporters, the role of public opinion, the potential influence of economic investors or the role of EU-level institutions in shaping party preferences, a more cogent explanation focuses on domestic-level developments. The conclusions will underscore the general implications of this research for the study of parties, particularly regionalist ones in the EU, highlighting that a party's changing stance towards supranational integrationist polices can be best understood as a consequence of its experience in a political system's electoral system.

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Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , 2004 , pp. 423 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 2004

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References

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18 AgePadania, 1 July 1997. Transformation of animal proteins is understood as suggesting hormone treatment of the cattle so that the animals would grow faster.

19 A great part of the NL's electorate can be found in this environment.

20 Speech in EP plenary session 13.2.1996; CD-rom: ‘La storia della Lega Nord’, document Eu_e_21. The ideas raised here are also based on interviews with MEPs of the League and high-ranking political actors associated with Bossi.

21 AgePadania, 1 July 1997.

22 AgePadania, 29 April 1997.

23 La Padania, 29–30 March 1998.

24 Ibid.

25 Bossi believed the fiscal pressure would rise by 11 percentage points.

26 AgePadania, 7 May 1998.

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41 Ibid., p. 46.

42 One might argue that the NL was more sensitive towards the interests of small and medium businesses concerning European integration as they represent an important part of their supporters (see Cavatorta, ‘The Role of the Northern League’, op. cit.). Unlike big businesses, small and medium businesses in northern Italy were not enthusiastic about the EMU and its impact on their competitiveness in the European market. However, the ‘party supporter’ explanation (Graph 1 and Graph 2) has shown that supporters in general (including also representatives of small and medium businesses) did not become more Euro-sceptic. Hence, we can state that there is also little evidence that the ‘economic actors’ explanation works for small and medium businesses in the north.

43 Correspondence with League officials, July 2001.

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50 Written question 2440/96 (9–30 September 1996); CD-rom: ‘La Storia della Lega Nord’, document Eu_a_8.

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53 La Padania, 29–30 March 1998.

54 See attendance register on EP sessions.

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60 Corriere della Sera, 7 March 1998.

61 Ibid., 6 February 1998.

62 Ibid., 15 December 1997.

63 Ibid., 22 January 1998.

64 Ibid., 18 February 1998.

65 Ibid., 22 January 1998.

66 Ibid., 19 March 1998.

67 Ibid., 20 February 1998.

68 The ‘Bicamerale’ was an Italian parliamentary commission for constitutional reforms.

69 Corriere della Sera, 6 February 1998.

70 Ibid., 20 February 1998.

71 Ibid., 21 January 1998.

72 F. Chiapponi, ‘La propaganda della Lega Nord nelle elezioni politiche del 13 maggio 2001: un’analisi del contenuto’, paper presented at the Italian Political Science Association meeting, September 2001, Siena.

73 O. Schmidtke, Politics of Identity. Ethnicity, Territories, and the Political Opportunity Structure in Modern Italian Society, Sinzheim, Pro Universitate, 1996.

74 I. Diamanti, La Lega. Geografia, Storia e sociologia di un nuovo soggetto politico, Rome, Donzelli, 1995; Schmidtke, Politics of Identity, op. cit.