Unstable political we-feelings in Italy and Israel: cyclical de-civilizing parabolas?

Abstract

Do Italy and Israel attest progressive de-civilizing phenomena in light of erosion in political stability and institutional paradigms? What are the differences between Italian and Israeli imperfect statehoods, revealing fluctuant tendencies in democratic civilizing and de-civilizing processes? Despite historical, political and sociological differences, both Italian and Israeli democracies have shown signs of political unrest and segmentation. The interaction between state and citizenry, anchored to national we- feelings, transformed the two countries into nation-state-based democratic republics which remain susceptible to instability, maybe even to disintegration, due to lasting sociopolitical and socio-cultural cleavages. The paper analyses the two states, and the democratic challenges they face, by using a long-term figurational analysis concerning three socio- historical properties that define their collective “self”: 1) the nation-state model; 2) democratic regime; 3) republicanism.