The Italian Northern League and the Padanian Independent Movement

• Main Authors: Du-Ren, Wang, 王篤仁
• Other Authors: Jin-Nan, Lai
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75719706072932044666

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 歐洲研究所 === 87 === The Italian Republic with its political and economic institutions, which were founded after the Second World War, encountered a structural change because of the end of the Cold War: On the political front, the electoral system is changing from the proportional one towards the majoritarian one; this along with the inquiries into corruption begun in 1992 have caused the downfall of the old Italian party regime. On the economic front, the aggravation of the rift between North and South and the deterioration of public debt caused the Italian government difficulty in balancing the regional development and meeting the criteria for European Monetary Union. On the other side, the regional leagues for autonomy which had been growing in the northern part of Italy since 1980s collaborated in 1991 to create a new party: the Northern League. This party, with the leadership of the Lombardy League and its chief Umberto Bossi, making political capital of the North-South rift and the political patrimony left by the old parties (especially by the Christian Democrats), obtained the support of the voters of the North, and then became an influential party in northern Italy. But after a temporary accord with Forza Italia in 1994, the Northern League became aware of the loss of its support, and decided to propose the radical Padanian Independent Movement and orchestrated a series of incidents with the view of jeopardizing the Italian national identity. This thesis consists in describing the development of the Northern League and the Padanian Independent Movement, aims to impact on both caused by the Italian crisis during the 1990s. This description facilitates an understanding of the factors which lead to their creation and development and to predict their future. In doing so, the arrangement of the chapters is as follows: Introduction; Chapter 1 Italy in the 1990s; Chapter 2 The foundation and development of the Northern League; Chapter 3 The rise of the Padanian Independent Movement; Chapter 4 The response of Italy; Conclusion.