Author Archive

Giovanni Capoccia (DPIR, University of Oxford)

Giovanni Capoccia (DPIR and Corpus Christi, University of Oxford)

Giovanni Capoccia is Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations and Fellow in Politics at Corpus Christi College.

His research focuses on the comparative study of democracy and democratization, political institutions, political extremism, and European politics.

The Italian right, led by the Brothers of Italy, is likely to be in government after the September 2022 elections. Despite its public statements expressing ‘full support’ for the European integration process, Giovanni Capoccia says that there are good reasons to question the exact nature of this commitment Italy heads right Mario Draghi’s successor after the general election in Italy on 25 September will likely be the leader of the right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), Giorgia Meloni. Currently polling at 23–24% of the vote, the party is the largest member of the centre-right coalition. In this coalition, the ‘right’, which includes the League (Lega, currently 13–14% in the polls), dominates the ‘centre’. The alliance is expected to secure a clear majority of seats …
Marine Le Pen looks serious at press conference table

This piece is based on an article first published on The Loop, ECPR’s Political Science Blog. With the 1st round of the French presidential elections only a few days away, the incumbent Emmanuel Macron (La République en Marche) continues to lead the polls (opinion-way.com) with 26-27% of vote intentions, followed by Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement National) at 22-23% and with Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise) in third place at 16-18%. All the other candidates seem out of the race. Even those who were once seen as possible contenders, in particular Éric Zemmour (Rêconquete) and Valerie Pécresse (Les Républicains) trail at around 9-10%, with little chance of qualifying for the 2nd round.   Last autumn, a repeat of the 2017 Macron-Le Pen duel …