Populism and Marginal Neighborhood. An Ecological Analysis of Naples Case

The paper analyzes the social geography and territorial distribution of the vote for populism parties in the Italian city of Naples. Marked by strong socio-spatial inequalities and a serious financial crisis of the local government, which has impacted on the welfare system and public services provided to citizens, the city of Naples – the largest city and metropolitan area in Southern Italy – can be considered an important case study to study and evaluate the connection between populist vote and socio-economic connotation of the urban space. In the last few years voting behaviour in Italy’s large urban areas has brought out a significant territorial characterization in terms of center-periphery cleavage, as highlighted by the 2016 municipal election held in Rome and Turin. Districts which present higher rates of socio-economic deprivation register a significantly higher percentage of votes for anti-system and populist parties (Lega Nord and Movimento Cinque Stelle), while both the traditional leftand right-wing parties (PD and Forza Italia) get the best results in the central and more affluent neighborhoods. The findings of ecological analysis show that the electoral behaviour of Naples’ sub-municipal units, based either on administrative borders (inner-city wards) or on homogenous socioeconomic profiles (marginal areas) confirm this growing national trend: the electoral support for the populist force in Naples in 2018 was broadly correlated to specific socio-economic contexts and concentrated mainly in the marginal and disadvantages areas of the city.