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Renzi’s Leadership between Party and Government

2016; Berghahn Books; Volume: 31; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3167/ip.2016.310104

2326-7259

Sergio Fabbrini, Marc Lazar,

Chinese history and philosophy

became the second politician from the Partito Democratico (PD, Democratic Party) to lead Italy after the technocrat government of Mario Monti, but unlike his predecessor, Enrico Letta, he was thrust into a new, not to say unprecedented, situation.It has been unusual in the history of the Italian Republic to see a politician simultaneously holding the two positions of prime minister and secretary of his own party.Nevertheless, there are many other differences between Renzi's experience and those who preceded him.Renzi found himself in the position of leading the governing coalition not only after winning the primaries of his own party, but above all after the party had failed to secure a victory in the elections of February 2013. 1 Thus, he was in the position of leading the government without being elected to Parliament and within a context where the opposing coalition was decidedly unstable.To retain his political legitimacy, Renzi was forced to hold the dual posts of party secretary and head of government and also to find the means to prevent any conflict between the party and the government.Renzi's leadership faced a number of challenges.First, there was the challenge from the opposition within his own political party.A second challenge came from various regional party organizations, which have adopted policies that have been relatively independent from the preferences of the party's national executive.Finally, Renzi faced challenges from sections of the parliamentary groups in his own party, as well as the opposition in Parliament, which have been critical or even hostile