Party policy positions in Italy after pre-electoral coalition disintegration

The Italian party system has recently been characterized by the formation and splits of pre-electoral coalitions. Different broad pre-electoral coalitions, which were set up in the scope of the 2006 national elections, disintegrated for the 2008 electoral campaign. This explorative study looks at the policy position of the main party coalitions regarding state involvement and social issues in the 2006 election campaign and their respective partners in the 2008 campaign. As such, we investigate where different parties that belonged to the same coalition in the previous election locate themselves after disintegration with respect to state involvement in economy and social policy dimensions. Using the computerized method Wordscores, we find mixed results with major coalition parties staying closest to the coalition's position on one issue but moving away from the coalition's position on the other issue. Minor leftist parties clearly look for a niche position after disintegration, whereas different patterns may be observed among the rightist minor parties. Acta Politica (2011) 46, 25-42. doi:10.1057/ap.2010.16