The Momentum of Populism: The Fall of Italy’s ‘Demolition Man’

‘Demagogic in parts, simply irreverent in others, the populist wave that seized the White House last month continues to inflict its casualties across the Atlantic. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, known as Il Rottamatore or Demolition Man, had to fall on his sword after yet another miscalculation by the necromancy of polling. As with Brexit, the establishment forces were left reeling in indignation and, more often than not, self-denial.
Renzi had simply been too greedy. His attempt centred on hobbling the Senate on the heels of changing the electoral law regarding the Chamber of Deputies. The consequence of attaining both these measures would have been a concentration of power in the prime minister’s office.’
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