Rifondazione and Europe: A party competition analysis Giorgos Charalambous Department of Politics University of Manchester
[email protected] Paper prepared to be presented at the 58th Political Studies Association, Annual Conference, Swansea (UK), April 1-3. 1 Copyright PSA 2008 Abstract This paper adresses the attitude of Rifondazione Comunista on Europe (European Integration and the European Union) between 1992 and 2006. This is done through an analysis of its positions and institutional action in the Italian electoral arena and partly based on common assumptions and analytical frameworks of the prevailing literature; that is, party system analysis. Findings show that Rifondazione has achieved two things, that are almost in direct contradiction with each other. Firstly, it gradually increased the use of the issue of European integration to emphasise its radical identity, target the Eurosceptics and other radical sections of the electorate and differentiate itself as clearly as possible from the centre-left. Secondly, it underwent positional reallaignment towards a softer approach, mostly, throgh its voting behavior in the Italian parliament and its support for the centre-left governments. A broad discussion assesses the findings of this case study and illuminates larger questions about party attitudes towards European integration. 2 Copyright PSA 2008 INTRODUCTION Apart from being a study which attempts to provide insights into the tactical and strategic considerations of parties, when Europe is put on the agenda, a study of Rifondazione Comunista's electoral attitude towards European integration merits attention due to three main reasons. Firstly, Rifondazione Comunista's first fifteen years coincided with the 'intensive years' of European integration.