Abstract

Most commentators focus on the communicative skills and methods of the Renzi government to suggest that the communicative aspect is all there is to it. This article departs from the literature on policy styles to theorize the characteristic style of postwar Italian governments as fundamentally reactive and consensus-oriented. It further draws from postwar comparative political economy analyses and from recent developments in discursive neo-institutionalism to suggest that Renzi's communicative discourse may also be interpreted as instrumental to overcoming the many veto points that characterize the Italian political system and to equipping this and successive governments with greater capabilities, thus permanently altering their policy style. Some indicative evidence that this may indeed be a more appropriate reading of this government's strategy is derived from its macroeconomic policies.