Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd December – Resort Poggio Cennina (Bucine, Arezzo)

Politics between the end of ideologies and the dissolution of ideas: building a role, charting a course

The last Italian elections have confirmed a long-term trend. The ‘traditional’ political families, rooted in the fractures of the 20th century, are in crisis. Christian and social-democratic parties, in some political systems, appear to be ‘paretian remnants’ of a bygone era, and this inevitably leaves room for more extreme proposals that thrive to their right and left.

This situation is producing paradoxical effects at different levels: the waning of 20th century ideologies and passions, in fact, risks being paid for first and foremost by the popular forces because the drift in progress has so far overwhelmed competence, the construction of the ruling class and, therefore, responsibility, degrading politics to ‘sloganeering’ conveyed by new mass media. Then, when the going gets tough, problems become complicated and crises advance, official politics abdicate and the function of moderates is often taken over by the technician on duty.

In attempting to organise a moderate political presence today, one cannot ignore these ongoing trends. One cannot disregard how, at the European level, the People’s Party is in danger of becoming a sort of ‘club’ without organic political lines, ploughed internally by divisions that in some cases appear as real chasms.