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Louder in Power? A Comparative Analysis of Fratelli d'Italia and Lega's Use of Populist Rhetoric between 2019 and 2024

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Author

  • Antoine Andre Jean Vincenot

Summary, in English

This thesis attempts to describe how Right-Wing Populist Parties (RWPPs) adapt their populist rhetoric after reaching power. This research takes the case of Italy, where two RWPPs – Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) and Lega – formed a coalition government with the mainstream party Forza Italia after their alliance won the 2022 legislative elections. Through the holistic grading (a form of content analysis) of twelve public speeches given by the leaders of FdI and Lega, Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini, this study provides insights into how both parties discursively evolved between 2019 and 2024. The results of this research show a relatively low intensity but consistent populist rhetoric for Matteo Salvini over the years and across all categories of speeches, while highlighting the more flexible approach of Giorgia Meloni, with more intense campaign speeches and less intense ribbon-cutting or international speeches. This quantitative difference allows for the description of Salvini’s populism as more authentic or natural, and Meloni’s populism as more pragmatic or strategic. Another difference is visible in how each leader uses populism as a frame. Giorgia Meloni is discursively ‘opposition-centred’, focusing on the fight between good and evil and demonising her adversaries. Meloni presents herself as the only person able to defeat the elite, hyper-personifying her ideological struggle. Taking the opposite approach, Matteo Salvini is more ‘people-centred’, depicting himself as a loyal servant to ‘the people’, effacing himself behind the greater ‘general will’.

Department/s

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Master's degree (two years)

Topic

  • Law and Political Science

Keywords

  • Populism
  • populist rhetoric
  • integration-moderation thesis
  • public speeches
  • Italian politics
  • Fratelli d’Italia
  • Lega
  • holistic grading
  • European Studies

Supervisor

  • Mattias Nowak