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#Populism 
#Salvini's League: the last mass-party in Italy.
As a researcher for the @_PiAP project, I am working on the League.
Few days ago La Repubblica published an article
that, in addition to few factual mistakes... THREAD (1/N) https://rep.repubblica.it/pwa/generale/2020/08/02/news/nasce_la_lega_di_salvini_ma_nella_base_del_nord_ilm_30_lascia_la_tessera-263562587/
... greatly exaggerates the organisational change in Salvini's League, with some hyperbolic considerations such as: "it evaporates the figure of the traditional supporter [...] the one who organised gazebos and went to Pontida as it was a sanctuary". But let's go with order. (2)
For much of its existence the Northern League (LN) was commanded by Umberto Bossi, who consistently concentrated his efforts in the development of a mass party-type organisation. (3) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23248823.2016.1193349?casa_token=ue04fDNq5n8AAAAA%3AN8fuW6Pi3I69iqB4EvGvcSdmtjr2YDZSrZZIF18iKBMSXYaAYodvW06Due5HbDEttGsoFO8Gt08t
Of course, the LN had nothing to do with the *ideology* of Marxist-Leninist parties, but it copied their interpretation of the mass-type organisational model. (4)
The not-so-implicit message of the article by La Repubblica is the following: this organisational structure and approach are gone under Salvini. While the article contains some elements of truth, it is the whole framing of the League's organisation which is flawed. (5)
Let's begin with the elements of truth. Surely the new League has experienced the defection of many members of the old guard. This is quite understandable given the de-facto abandonment of regionalism, its historical raison d'ĂȘtre. (6) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13597566.2018.1512977
This adds to the membership decline that occurred following the scandal that led to Bossi's resignation in 2012. Since then, furthermore, abolition of public funding to political parties impacted on the *old* features of the LN as a mass-party https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137581969 (7)
Surely this impacted on various things, such as ancillary organisations, La Padania, physical branches, but since then the League has developed a modern, probably more efficient, mass-type organisation. This combines continuous activism on the ground *and* new technologies (8).
The common interpretation of Salvini's League as a mere 'social media party' is just wrong (9).
Yes, members are fewer, but the League still acts as a mass-party in the North. No signs of the supposed 'death' of activists, nor of vanishing gazebos. Even Pontida is still viewed as the KEY communitarian event by party members(10) (cf. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9256.2006.00259.x?casa_token=o1fuFe_5r6AAAAAA%3AjdzJkQGkLwtvDJzj2aaIMWbDaKV7U0v2fidN41GDlifai9NgJqbKLUPrknVVe_UPYD30f3pCS2Kw
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9256.2006.00259.x?casa_token=o1fuFe_5r6AAAAAA%3AjdzJkQGkLwtvDJzj2aaIMWbDaKV7U0v2fidN41GDlifai9NgJqbKLUPrknVVe_UPYD30f3pCS2Kw
Many local branches continue to exist despite the abolition of public funding (especially thanks to reps' self-financing), territorial presence is ensured on a regular basis and the coordination of activities on the ground is made more efficient by new technologies... (11)
... which are essential for the modern interpretation of the mass-party model by the League. Activists remain essential, and activities on the ground are used to amplify social media campaigns and viceversa. (12)
However, what really matters is that the League still perceives itself and acts as a mass-party, more specifically a Leninist one. In the North, Salviniâs League inherited and maintained the structures, resources and most of the activists of the old LN, and (13)
still carries out the traditional functions and activities of the mass-party model by taking advantage of new technologies. In the South... (14)
the League is better understood as a âwannabeâ mass-party, as it is actively trying to replicate the organisational features and practices it has consolidated in the North. However, it will be a long journey and I don't have the crystal ball. (15)
Despite the organisational dyscrasia between North and South, the League remains characterised by a vocation as a mass-party. While Bossi's LN was much more elephantine and bureaucratic, Salvini's League maintains its key organisational principles and practices (16).
Activists can be mobilised by the party in few days, making its organisation a true competitive weapon. It is the *only* party in Italy that regularly carries out activities on the ground (i.e. beyond election campaigns). This matters A LOT in terms of public perception. (17)
Furthermore, in its essential organisational features yesterday's and today's League do not differ to much. On the contrary, the League remains characterised by a grassroots activist base, widespread territorial presence, and by the provision of a wide-range of activities ...(18)
for its members, who are still encapsulated despite the profound ideological change. In addition, as it was in the past, the League remains a very centralised party machine which left very little room for the *public* display of internal dissent... (19)
Democratic centralism is still the foundation of decision-making in the party, as it was in the past. Nevertheless, the clear challenge is represented by the South, both for the implications for its traditional constituency, but also for its broader organisation... (20)
because while in the North the organizational principles of loyalty, dedication and hierarchy to party line are established imperatives, their export into the South is problematic. Yet, even there, they are trying to build the party in this way. So, the mass-party model... (21)
is still there, albeit in a modern form, and even the loss of activists is not so big if we consider that the League is a former regionalist party that did not simply changed its core goals, but is also attempting to export its organisational model at the state-wide level (22)
Actually, the loss of old members is not necessarily a bad thing for Salvini because they can be 'replaced' with younger ones already committed to the new state-wide course of the party... (END)
