Abstract

The present contribution explores the real consistency, in the Italian political panorama, of the traditional terminological right/left contrast. The research uses the programs of four political parties, two of the area commonly labeled as "right" (Alleanza Nazionale and Forza Italia) and two defined as "left" (Partito Democratico della Sinistra e Rifondazione Comunista). The subjects are 240 activists balanced across the four political parties. The dimensions inquired are: a) the degree of sharing the party programs, b) the political self-location, c) the historic-cultural reference models. The general results indicate that for the members of the two areas of left, the perceived "nearness" in the symbolic space of the political self-location does not find a total correspondence to level of sharing programs. For the members of the two areas of right, the "distance" emerged on the plan of the self-location and the historic-cultural reference models, does not have repercussions on the economic and political choices of the programs, that turn out to be widely shared. At a more analytical level, with reference to specific thematic areas, interesting consents and dissents emerge across the four political formations, that seem to exceed the logic of the political membership.