The current populist right-wing government in Italy is pushing for a constitutional reform aimed at introducing direct popular election of the prime minister, aligning the majority of MPs with the executive branch. Despite this proposal being in line with current populist tendencies, Lorenzo Spadacini’s lecture will illustrate that it is rooted in much older constitutional schemes. The Acerbo Law of 1923, promoted by Mussolini, followed a similar pattern, and comparable schemes have been reiterated over time, even during the republican period, as can be seen in the so-called Fraud Law of 1953, the law for municipalities of 1993, and the constitutional law for regions of 1999. Moreover, reform proposals similar to those advocated by the political right nowadays have been supported in the past by the centre and the left. In essence, the constitutional populism currently expressed by the right is more widely spread in Italian political culture and persists over time, arguably due to the weak liberal tradition of the country’s political system.

Prof. Lorenzo Spadacini is an esteemed Associate Professor at the University of Brescia, specializing in Italian and European constitutional law. He holds a PhD from the University of Verona and a Law degree from the University of Brescia. Prof. Spadacini has served as a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University Law School and held the position of Head of the Department for Institutional Reforms at the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy. His research focuses on democratic representation, electoral systems, and regional autonomy. Notable works include the monograph Decreto-legge e alterazione del quadro costituzionale (2022).

The event was organized in cooperation with Dr. Fabian Michl, Assistant Professor for Public Law and the Law of Politics at the Faculty of Law, Leipzig University.

This lecture discusses changes in the U.S. national strategy to prevent and counter extremist violence, including an embrace of public health style approaches to prevention. Dr. Miller-Idriss also reviews recent trends in U.S. political and hate-fueled violence and shares an emerging evidence base about the effectiveness of two core interventions: short form “prebunking” videos and community-based capacity building with parents, caregivers, youth mentors, faith leaders, mental health professionals, and educators. She also highlights key areas of transatlantic dialogue and cooperation about promising practices in each country.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss is an award-winning author and scholar of extremism and radicalization. She is the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education. Dr. Miller-Idriss regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress or briefs policy, security, education and intelligence agencies in the U.S., the United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement. She serves on the international advisory board of the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) in Oslo, Norway and is a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)’s Tracking Hate and Extremism Advisory Committee.

This GlobeLecture was organized with Oliver Decker and the Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute for Democracy in Saxony

Recorded on 3 November 2023

You can find the video recording of the lecture here

Renewed political concern about geographical inequalities in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008 is raising questions about the ability of the prevalent pre-crisis model of development to generate more spatially balanced and inclusive economic development. This lecture provides the first assessment of this emergent post-2008 spatial policy in relation to the interaction of three key processes: neoliberalism; the rise of state capitalism; and, populism and the geography of discontent. Danny MacKinnon will discuss how the interactions between these three factors have shaped spatial policy in Europe and North America since 2008. This will be based on three main forms of spatial policy: metropolitanisation strategies to support the growth of large city-regions; the extension of competitiveness policies to smaller cities and towns; and, place-based industrial policies. MacKinnon argues that while these new spatial and industrial policies are focusing attention on ‘left behind places’ and rejecting elements of globalism and neoliberalism, they have not as yet dislodged the underlying emphasis on growth and competitiveness.

Danny MacKinnon is Professor of Regional Development & Governance and Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) at Newcastle University. He is a leading economic geographer with a long-standing interest in the institutions and politics of urban and regional development. He is a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association, the Royal Geographical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences. His recent work has focused on the creation of new regional growth paths and the development of spatial policies to address regional inequalities. He is currently leading an international research project on patterns of demographic and socio-economic change in ‘left behind places’ in the UK, Germany and France.

The GlobeLecture is a series of lectures held several times a semester in which outstanding researchers discuss global change, transnational interdependencies and regional transformations. It is organised by the Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics in cooperation with partners inside and outside Leipzig University. This time, together with the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, we welcome the geographer Danny MacKinnon, Professor of Regional Development and Governance at Newcastle University.