'The challenges and dilemmas embedded in the expatriate vote: the case study of Italians overseas'

Tuesday 3 June, 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne

presented by

Dr Bruno Mascitelli and Dr Simone Battiston

(Swinburne University of Technology)

Download audio of seminar mp3 (15MB)

Abstract

The 9-10 April 2006 Italian parliamentary elections led to a narrow victory for the centre-left coalition at the expense of the outgoing Silvio Berlusconi centre-right government. The vote was so close that the nature of the voting system, which also allowed the implementation for the first time of full voting rights by Italian citizens living overseas, assumed greater importance than in any other election of recent times in Italy. In the tightest vote in the republic’s history, the vote of overseas Italians, which was one of the decisive features of the election, helped provide the winning centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi with a slender majority in the Senate. The political consequences of the vote of overseas Italians in particular – encapsulated in the right to postal voting and of direct election of eighteen overseas-based representatives in Italy’s Parliament – have been unravelling over the last two years.

The recent unexpected political crisis of January 2008 in Italy, bringing to an end the short-lived centre-left government led by Romano Prodi, will for the second time provide the scenario for Italians overseas to vote and possibly influence the outcome of new elections scheduled for 13-14 April. The Italian expatriate vote provides an excellent test case for studying one country’s implementation of full voting rights and political representation to its fellow citizens overseas. This paper seeks to highlight the challenges and dilemmas embedded in the Italian expatriate vote, which regards the overseas electorate relationships with politics of the country of origin, political participation and parliamentary representation, national identity, (dual) citizenship and democracy. Over the last few years, the Italian expatriate vote has been facing procedural, normative, and political issues. What may have been initially seen as a democratic right may well be cast aside in the near future, as a shadow has been cast over its very nature by election tactics, alleged electoral fraud, and impact on past and future election outcome.

Considering the limited research in this field, this paper sheds a rare light into the issue of expatriates’ political stake in the country of origin and vice versa.

Biography

Bruno Mascitelli is a senior lecturer in European Studies at Swinburne University of Technology. His research areas include 20th Century Italian History, Political Economy, and European Studies. He has published on Post War Italian History, and Political Economy.

Simone Battiston is Cassamarca Lecturer in Italian and Head of the Italian Studies Program at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. His research interests include the migrant political and socio-economic contribution to post-war Australia, the history of the Italian-Australian community and the issue of the vote to Italians overseas.

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