Fishing from the same schools: Parliamentary recruitment and consociationalism in the first and second Italian republics

Starting from the assumption that political recruitment systems have an effect on elite behaviour, the hypothesis is advanced that a restriction of the ‘political opportunity structure’ from an early age facilitates consociationalism. The initial stages of the political careers of the MPs elected in Italy in the eleventh legislature (1992) ‐ generally described as consociational ‐ are contrasted with those of their successors elected in the twelfth legislature (1994), commonly singled out as more conflictual. Evidence shows that the ruling bodies of the party youth organisations functioned as an apprenticeship for more than 30 per cent of the MPs in 1992 and more than 50 per cent of the parliamentary ‘super‐élite’. It is argued that the ‘activation’ of Italian political élites through party youth organisations homogenised their status (as political professionals), and lowered their social distance (as old acquaintances). The first factor brought about equivalence of interests, the second, personal trust. The combination of these factors is precisely what creates the elite conditions for consociationalism. Consistent with the hypothesis, the emergence of sharper conflicts in the initial stages of the Second Republic is paralleled by a stronger differentiation of the sources of political activation of the MPs elected in 1994, especially along party lines.