The Lega dei Ticinesi: The Embodiment of Populism
| Author | Daniele Albertazzi |
| Published date | 01 May 2006 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2006.00260.x |
| Date | 01 May 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Special Section: Alpine Populism |
Special Section: Alpine Populism
The Lega dei Ticinesi: The Embodiment
of Populism
Daniele Albertazzi
University of Birmingham
This article views ‘populism’ as an ideology, the key features of which are identified and briefly
discussed. Having assessed the extent to which such features match the profile of the Swiss Lega
dei Ticinesi, the author concludes that this party should be seen as a paradigmatic embodiment of
populism due to: a) the party’s uneasiness with representative democracy; b) the crucial role played
by the concept of the ‘people’ in its propaganda; c) the power of the leader within the organisa-
tion; and d) the party’s chameleon-like tendency to borrow keywords and ideas from both sides
of the political divide.
Introduction
In his study of populism in different historical and geographical contexts, Paul
Taggart asserts that ‘none of the examples [of populist parties/movements] illus-
trates all of the facets of populism. Some come close ... but none go all the way’
(2000, p. 7). Thus, when faced with the task of defining what the ‘ideal populist
movement’ might be like, one is left with no choice but to move from the par-
ticular to a general abstraction.
The limited aim of the present article and the one by Duncan McDonnell, also in
this issue, is to challenge this claim and argue that two political movements, the
Lega Nord (LN) in Italy and the Lega dei Ticinesi (LDT) in the Italian-speaking
Swiss canton of Ticino are paradigmatic embodiments of populism and illustrate
all its salient facets. As McDonnell (2006) argues in his article, these movements
are best described as ‘regionalist populist’, above and beyond any other label (e.g.
‘federalist’, ‘far right’, ‘radical right’ etc.). I adopt the same approach here in dealing
with the Swiss LDT. While it can be debated, therefore, whether the Schweizerische
Volkspartei/Union Démocratique du Centre (SVP/UDC, Swiss People’s party) is still
a conservative, rather than a populist, movement (Mazzoleni, 2003a) or to what
extent the Italian Alleanza Nazionale is in fact at all populist (Albertazzi and
McDonnell, 2005), we believe that the two Alpine ‘leagues’ encapsulate all the
salient aspects of ‘populism’. This article will justify this claim with reference to the
Lega dei Ticinesi; however, it should not be seen as an attempt to provide a full
study of this party, as this would require a much more extended analysis.
POLITICS: 2006 VOL 26(2), 133–139
© 2006 The Author. Journal compilation © 2006 Political Studies Association
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