Abstract

This special issue of «Polis» (edited by Paola Bordandini, Aldo Di Virgilio and Rosa Mulé) centers on a key feature of the transformation of Italian political parties, that is, the attitudes and activities of party middle-level élites in national party congresses. Drawing on recent survey data collected between 2004 and 2009, the papers explore party politics and ideas in a period in which the Italian political system has undergone sweeping institutional and electoral changes. These changes have brought about the formation of new political parties, splits and mergers that have made the so-called «Second Republic» radically different from the First. The central questions addressed in the papers concern political culture, patterns of candidate selection, internal participation and socio-demographic comparisons of party delegates.