Marta Quaranta
Biographic Data
| ID | 243684 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marta Quaranta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marta |
| FAMILY NAME | Quaranta |
| SIGNATURE | QUARANTA M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4056-8998 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 493 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Disciplinary divides: Exploring the development of political interest across academic disciplines
Personal political interest is key to being an active citizen in a democracy, but not everyone develops it equally. Although higher education is often seen as a main factor in promoting political engagement, recent studies have questioned how much it really matters, pointing instead to self-selection and field-specific educational experiences. This study brought together several theories and applied growth curve analysis using data from the Germa…
Affective polarization between political communication and economic uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy
This article examines how individual changes in the frequency of political information consumption and discussion across different communication environments influenced affective polarization (AP) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Using a three-wave panel survey of Italian citizens and fixed-effects models, we find that increased exposure to political information through legacy media and face-to-face discussions heightened …
Winning is the only thing: Election outcomes, satisfaction with democracy and political trust among populist voters in Europe
Recent comparative and single-case studies have investigated the link between the electoral performance of populist parties and the political attitudes and behaviors of populist voters. However, they have not addressed what happens to populist voters’ satisfaction with democracy and political trust when populist parties gain representation in parliament or join cabinets across countries and over time in Europe. This study argues that there are tw…
The formation of institutional trust among immigrants: What Is the Role of Democracy
This article studies how trust in institutions is shaped among immigrants, considering the level of democracy in the countries of both origin and destination. Democracy is relevant to institutional trust as this system provides citizens with better performance, procedures and accountability. Immigrants use a ‘dual frame of reference’ when asked the extent to which they trust public institutions. They use their experiences in their countries of bo…
Is political interest tracked in schools? Evidence from Germany
Motivated by ongoing academic debates about whether education functions as a causal driver or a proxy in shaping sociopolitical outcomes, this study investigates the impact of educational tracking on the development of political interest among youths. Specifically, we examine whether the transition into academic and vocational upper-secondary school tracks affects students’ political interest. We applied a difference-in-differences framework to e…
Studying Democracy in Europe: Conceptualization, Measurement and Indices
Given the academic and media salience of democracy and its measurement, in this contribution we take a closer look at the various existing datasets. For this purpose, in the first two sections we look at democratic conceptualization and measurement, and then focus on the most used datasets on democracy and assess them against the conceptual criteria illustrated in the first section. The third section focuses on the notion of quality of democracy …
The tension between democracy and populism: An empirical test of Canovan's claims of the two faces of democracy
This study provides a first empirical test of Margaret Canovan's influential argument on the relationship between democracy and populism, which posits that populism emerges as a consequence of the unresolved conflict between the pragmatic and redemptive faces of democracy. Despite its impact on scholars of populism, the implications of her framework remain untested. Using data from the EVS/WVS Integrated Values Surveys, we test Canovan's claims a…
Mapping Changes in Attitudes towards Gays and Lesbians in Europe: An Application of Diffusion Theory
Despite the introduction of laws granting family rights for lesbians and gays (LG) in many countries, negative attitudes towards homosexuality persist among various segments of the population, even in countries that have fully legitimized same-sex relationships. This mismatch raises questions about the processes through which societies achieve positive attitudes towards gays and lesbians. This article applies diffusion theory to nearly 20 years o…
Are digital platforms potential drivers of the populist vote? A comparative analysis of France, Germany and Italy
Populist parties are often argued to be very skilled in using digital media to attract supporters and strengthen linkages with their followers. However, only rarely has research shown this linkage empirically. This study explores whether arguments about the relation between digital platforms and populist voting can be substantiated using comparative survey data in France, Germany and Italy. Digital media include a variety of online platforms that…
Assessing the Impact of Age, Cohort and Period Effects on Partisanship and Support for Mainstream Parties: Evidence from Southern Europe
The article examines the link between time effects and dealignment in Southern European countries, which allows us to assess the relative importance of short- and long-term factors on the political instability of the region during the Eurocrisis. First, we analyse life cycle, cohort and period effects on partisan identities across countries. Second, we investigate to what extent time-related factors have been responsible for the erosion of the vo…
Trust, Satisfaction and Political Engagement during Economic Crisis: Young Citizens in Southern Europe
Título del postprint: Political engagement and attitudes among young citizens and the crisis: evidence from Southern Europe
Citizens’ engagement with popularization and with populist actors on Facebook: A study on 52 leaders in 18 Western democracies
By considering the Facebook activity of 52 party leaders during national election campaigns held in 18 Western democracies that went to the polls between 2013 and 2017, we study users’ engagement with popularization and with populist leaders. Finally, we find that when populist leaders adopt popularization as a communicative style, they do not achieve any extra gain vis-a-vis non-populist actors
What makes up democracy? Meanings of democracy and their correlates among adolescents in 38 countries
Let Them Be, Not Adopt: General Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians and Specific Attitudes Towards Adoption by Same-Sex Couples in 22 European Countries
Economic Evaluations, Economic Freedom, and Democratic Satisfaction in Africa
This article assesses the relationship between democratic satisfaction and micro and macroeconomic factors in Africa. Studies have shown that economic factors represent a cornerstone of the democratic process. However, research has rarely accounted for the effect of economic freedom on satisfaction with democracy, and its conditional role on the effect of citizens’ economic evaluations, particularly in the context of Africa where democracy is sti…
A Tale of Bias: Longitudinal Evidence of the Effect of Electoral Defeat on Citizens’ Evaluations of the Economy
The winner–loser electoral status may affect citizens’ perceptions of the national economy. In the context of Europe, this issue has aroused little interest as multi-party competition makes it difficult to study. We look at the 2016 Italian constitutional referendum, a top-down national referendum, which approximates second-order elections and divides voters in two groups, allowing the study of the effects of elections on opinions. Using a pre-po…
Political support among winners and losers: Within‐ and between‐country effects of structure, process and performance in Europe
Why is the winner‐loser gap in political support wider in some countries and narrower in others? Previous studies have focused on how the input side of political systems (i.e., the institutional structure) affects the winner‐loser gap. This study suggests that one should also consider the output side (i.e., the quality of political process and economic performance) and posits that two mechanisms – rational and psychological – can explain how outp…
Accountability through government alternation: Economic performance and the conditional role of political institutions in fifty countries, 1990–2015
Government alternation is a fundamental aspect of representative democracies because it is the most efficient mechanism of accountability through which voters can steer the course of government. Previous research on alternation has focused either on its conceptualization and measurement or on its role as a determinant of political and economic outcomes. This article attempts to investigate the factors affecting government alternation. We test res…
Left Behind? Gender Gaps in Political Engagement Over the Life Course in Twenty-Seven European Countries
This article investigates gender differences in political involvement in twenty-seven countries across four life course stages: home-leaving, partnership formation, parenthood, and empty nest. Single country studies show that these life events can hamper women’s political engagement, but whether this finding holds cross-nationally remains unclear. Using European Social Survey data, we show that across countries “family intensive” life course stag…
Nonviolent Protest in Europe: The Role of Macroeconomic Conditions in Party and Union Members’ Participation
Published online: 12 January 2018
Repertoires of political participation: Macroeconomic conditions, socioeconomic resources, and participation gaps in Europe
The European economic crisis has stimulated a great deal of research linking contextual macroeconomic conditions and political outputs, as conventional and unconventional political participation. Nevertheless, such research has often treated forms of political participation as independent from each other, overlooking how citizens can choose from combinations of political actions to influence politics in contexts with varying levels of macroeconom…
How citizens evaluate democracy: An assessment using the European Social Survey
How do citizens evaluate democracy? Previous literature trying to address this question has often relied on single indicators to assess citizens’ assessment of democracy. This article contributes to this debate by using multiple indicators measuring different attributes to find a summary measure of citizens’ evaluations of democracy. Using the special module of the sixth round of the European Social Survey ‘Europeans’ understandings and evaluatio…
Voting for Movement Parties in Southern Europe: The Role of Protest and Digital Information
In recent years ‘movement parties’ such as Syriza in Greece, the Movimento 5 Stelle in Italy, Podemos in Spain and—to a lesser extent—Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal shook national party systems, breaking the consolidated dynamics of political competition. Despite growing interest in movement parties, there has been scant attention to the role of citizens adopting unconventional forms of action and using digital media in accounting for their electo…
News diets, social media use and non-institutional participation in three communication ecologies: Comparing Germany, Italy and the UK
In the course of a three-year research project comparing social media and political participation across the European Union, we collected data on representative samples of internet users from Germany, Italy and the UK. Online users were surveyed just after the May 2014 European elections. The three countries have been selected as they differ not only in terms of institutional features but also in terms of the character of their media systems: ‘li…
The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in 36 Countries
Does the economy really matter for satisfaction with democracy? Longitudinal and cross-country evidence from the European Union
Political support among winners and losers: Within‐ and between‐country effects of structure, process and performance in Europe
Why is the winner‐loser gap in political support wider in some countries and narrower in others? Previous studies have focused on how the input side of political systems (i.e., the institutional structure) affects the winner‐loser gap. This study suggests that one should also consider the output side (i.e., the quality of political process and economic performance) and posits that two mechanisms – rational and psychological – can explain how outp…
How citizens evaluate democracy: An assessment using the European Social Survey
How do citizens evaluate democracy? Previous literature trying to address this question has often relied on single indicators to assess citizens’ assessment of democracy. This article contributes to this debate by using multiple indicators measuring different attributes to find a summary measure of citizens’ evaluations of democracy. Using the special module of the sixth round of the European Social Survey ‘Europeans’ understandings and evaluatio…
The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in 36 Countries
Voting for Movement Parties in Southern Europe: The Role of Protest and Digital Information
In recent years ‘movement parties’ such as Syriza in Greece, the Movimento 5 Stelle in Italy, Podemos in Spain and—to a lesser extent—Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal shook national party systems, breaking the consolidated dynamics of political competition. Despite growing interest in movement parties, there has been scant attention to the role of citizens adopting unconventional forms of action and using digital media in accounting for their electo…
Let Them Be, Not Adopt: General Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians and Specific Attitudes Towards Adoption by Same-Sex Couples in 22 European Countries
What is the impact of the economic crisis on democracy? Evidence from Europe
There are already a number of good accounts of the impact of the recent 2008–2014 economic crisis on European democracies. However, no systematic assessments of how it has affected specific aspects of democracy have so far been carried out. We explore its impact on European democracies in several areas by adopting the ‘quality of democracy’ framework. Our analysis shows that the measures we employ capture the variation in quality during this ‘tro…
Easy Come, Easy Go? Economic Performance and Satisfaction with Democracy in Southern Europe in the Last Three Decades
Measuring political protest in Western Europe: Assessing Cross-National Equivalence
This article tests the cross-national equivalence of the political protest scale, as developed by Barnes and Kaase, in 20 Western European countries using a battery of items included in the fourth wave of the European Values Study. The scale measuring the concept of political protest is widely used, but no evidence of cross-country equivalence has yet been provided in the literature. The article illustrates the concept of political protest, the r…
Left Behind? Gender Gaps in Political Engagement Over the Life Course in Twenty-Seven European Countries
This article investigates gender differences in political involvement in twenty-seven countries across four life course stages: home-leaving, partnership formation, parenthood, and empty nest. Single country studies show that these life events can hamper women’s political engagement, but whether this finding holds cross-nationally remains unclear. Using European Social Survey data, we show that across countries “family intensive” life course stag…
The Meaning of Democracy to Citizens Across European Countries and the Factors Involved
Repertoires of political participation: Macroeconomic conditions, socioeconomic resources, and participation gaps in Europe
The European economic crisis has stimulated a great deal of research linking contextual macroeconomic conditions and political outputs, as conventional and unconventional political participation. Nevertheless, such research has often treated forms of political participation as independent from each other, overlooking how citizens can choose from combinations of political actions to influence politics in contexts with varying levels of macroeconom…
Protesting in ‘hard times: Evidence from a comparative analysis of Europe, 2000–2014
This article aims to demonstrate that during an economic crisis political protest increases. Recently, economic performance has suddenly worsened in Europe after a period of relative prosperity. The economic crisis affects citizens, who may turn to political protest to voice their discontent. However, the literature on social movements has often dismissed the link between economic performance and political protest, arguing that dissatisfaction is…
The Non-Procedural Determinants of Responsiveness
This article starts from the remarks by Peter Mair on the growing gap between responsiveness and responsibility – or middle-run responsiveness – and the declining capacity of parties to bridge that gap. It focuses on the empirical analysis of the association between economic and substantive democratic dimensions and responsiveness, which are highly relevant to the way in which parties compete and govern within contemporary democracies. Following …
Mapping Changes in Attitudes towards Gays and Lesbians in Europe: An Application of Diffusion Theory
Despite the introduction of laws granting family rights for lesbians and gays (LG) in many countries, negative attitudes towards homosexuality persist among various segments of the population, even in countries that have fully legitimized same-sex relationships. This mismatch raises questions about the processes through which societies achieve positive attitudes towards gays and lesbians. This article applies diffusion theory to nearly 20 years o…
Leaving home, finding a partner and having kids: Gender differences in political participation across the life course in Italy
The impact of institutional decentralization on protest in Western Europe
There are many explanations for variation in political protest. However, they have not focused sufficiently on institutions and the influence the latter exert on protest. This article, by using multilevel analysis and cross-national survey data, suggests that political protest depends on the level of institutional decentralization. In fact, decentralization increases the number of state actors, implies a multiplication of access points to the pol…
Assessing the Impact of Age, Cohort and Period Effects on Partisanship and Support for Mainstream Parties: Evidence from Southern Europe
The article examines the link between time effects and dealignment in Southern European countries, which allows us to assess the relative importance of short- and long-term factors on the political instability of the region during the Eurocrisis. First, we analyse life cycle, cohort and period effects on partisan identities across countries. Second, we investigate to what extent time-related factors have been responsible for the erosion of the vo…
Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013
This article analyses the long-term dissatisfaction of citizens with democracy in Italy in light of the economic and institutional transformations that have occurred over the last four decades. Using multilevel analysis, the results challenge previous research showing how poor economic performance in the form of unemployment and inflation has increased dissatisfaction. Most importantly, the article demonstrates that the widespread political dissa…
Trust, Satisfaction and Political Engagement during Economic Crisis: Young Citizens in Southern Europe
Título del postprint: Political engagement and attitudes among young citizens and the crisis: evidence from Southern Europe
An Apathetic Generation? Cohorts' Patterns of Political Participation in Italy
Studying Democracy in Europe: Conceptualization, Measurement and Indices
Given the academic and media salience of democracy and its measurement, in this contribution we take a closer look at the various existing datasets. For this purpose, in the first two sections we look at democratic conceptualization and measurement, and then focus on the most used datasets on democracy and assess them against the conceptual criteria illustrated in the first section. The third section focuses on the notion of quality of democracy …
Life Course, Gender, and Participation in Voluntary Organizations in Italy
This article investigates the gender differences in participation in voluntary organizations across the life course in Italy. It shows that three forms of engagement in voluntary organizations—donating money, attending meetings, and doing unpaid work—may depend on some stages of the life course—leaving the parental home, forming a union, and becoming a parent—as it is plausible that they may change personal resources and pose constraints or provi…
The ‘Normalisation’ of the Protester: Changes in Political Action in Italy (1981–2009)
Authors claim that political protest is ‘normal’ in contemporary democracies, which are, therefore, ‘social movement societies’. This article analyses the Italian case, showing that there has been an expansion and a gradual institutionalisation of political protest, but it also tests whether there has been a ‘normalisation’ of the protester. It is argued that in a ‘social movement society’ protesters are more heterogeneous than in the past. Using…
Citizens’ engagement with popularization and with populist actors on Facebook: A study on 52 leaders in 18 Western democracies
By considering the Facebook activity of 52 party leaders during national election campaigns held in 18 Western democracies that went to the polls between 2013 and 2017, we study users’ engagement with popularization and with populist leaders. Finally, we find that when populist leaders adopt popularization as a communicative style, they do not achieve any extra gain vis-a-vis non-populist actors
A Mixed Approach to the Work-Motherhood Relation: An Application of Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Generalized Linear Models
Female labor force participation and total fertility rates have been negatively correlated until the early ’80s. By the end of that decade, however, the relationship changed sign. Scholars have suggested a close link between individual reproductive behavior, labor market participation and institutional contexts, but we still lack clear evidence of the underlying micro-level mechanism. We propose the use of complementary techniques, fuzzy set Qual…
The impact of institutional decentralization on protest in Western Europe
There are many explanations for variation in political protest. However, they have not focused sufficiently on institutions and the influence the latter exert on protest. This article, by using multilevel analysis and cross-national survey data, suggests that political protest depends on the level of institutional decentralization. In fact, decentralization increases the number of state actors, implies a multiplication of access points to the pol…
Measuring political protest in Western Europe: Assessing Cross-National Equivalence
This article tests the cross-national equivalence of the political protest scale, as developed by Barnes and Kaase, in 20 Western European countries using a battery of items included in the fourth wave of the European Values Study. The scale measuring the concept of political protest is widely used, but no evidence of cross-country equivalence has yet been provided in the literature. The article illustrates the concept of political protest, the r…
Fuzzy Set Theory and Concepts: A Proposal for Concept Formation and Operationalization
The quantity-quality debate in social sciences also concerns concept formation and operationalization. The first approach has strong naturalist assumptions, while the second one focuses on the historical specificity of concepts. The solution to overcome this divide would be finding a path which balances the two perspectives. In this article we argue that fuzzy set theory can be a helpful tool for concept formation and operationalization. The appl…
Collective and Private Resources and the Inequalities of Non-violent Political Protest in European Countries
Political participation is deemed to be a fundamental component of democratic regimes. The literature on political participation has shown that some social groups of citizens tend to be less involved in politics than other social groups, and the consequence is that the interests of these specific groups of less involved citizens are underrepresented in the political process. Given the increasing popularity of non-violent protest in contemporary d…
Finding Out the Hard Way: Uncovering the Structural Foundations of Political Dissatisfaction in Italy, 1973–2013
This article analyses the long-term dissatisfaction of citizens with democracy in Italy in light of the economic and institutional transformations that have occurred over the last four decades. Using multilevel analysis, the results challenge previous research showing how poor economic performance in the form of unemployment and inflation has increased dissatisfaction. Most importantly, the article demonstrates that the widespread political dissa…
The Non-Procedural Determinants of Responsiveness
This article starts from the remarks by Peter Mair on the growing gap between responsiveness and responsibility – or middle-run responsiveness – and the declining capacity of parties to bridge that gap. It focuses on the empirical analysis of the association between economic and substantive democratic dimensions and responsiveness, which are highly relevant to the way in which parties compete and govern within contemporary democracies. Following …
The ‘Normalisation’ of the Protester: Changes in Political Action in Italy (1981–2009)
Authors claim that political protest is ‘normal’ in contemporary democracies, which are, therefore, ‘social movement societies’. This article analyses the Italian case, showing that there has been an expansion and a gradual institutionalisation of political protest, but it also tests whether there has been a ‘normalisation’ of the protester. It is argued that in a ‘social movement society’ protesters are more heterogeneous than in the past. Using…
Chinese archaeological artefacts: Microstructure and corrosion behaviour of high-leaded bronzes
Life Course, Gender, and Participation in Voluntary Organizations in Italy
This article investigates the gender differences in participation in voluntary organizations across the life course in Italy. It shows that three forms of engagement in voluntary organizations—donating money, attending meetings, and doing unpaid work—may depend on some stages of the life course—leaving the parental home, forming a union, and becoming a parent—as it is plausible that they may change personal resources and pose constraints or provi…
Chips off the old blocks? The political participation patterns of parents and children in Italy
News diets, social media use and non-institutional participation in three communication ecologies: Comparing Germany, Italy and the UK
In the course of a three-year research project comparing social media and political participation across the European Union, we collected data on representative samples of internet users from Germany, Italy and the UK. Online users were surveyed just after the May 2014 European elections. The three countries have been selected as they differ not only in terms of institutional features but also in terms of the character of their media systems: ‘li…
The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in 36 Countries
Leaving home, finding a partner and having kids: Gender differences in political participation across the life course in Italy
Easy Come, Easy Go? Economic Performance and Satisfaction with Democracy in Southern Europe in the Last Three Decades
The Meaning of Democracy to Citizens Across European Countries and the Factors Involved
What is the impact of the economic crisis on democracy? Evidence from Europe
There are already a number of good accounts of the impact of the recent 2008–2014 economic crisis on European democracies. However, no systematic assessments of how it has affected specific aspects of democracy have so far been carried out. We explore its impact on European democracies in several areas by adopting the ‘quality of democracy’ framework. Our analysis shows that the measures we employ capture the variation in quality during this ‘tro…
Does the economy really matter for satisfaction with democracy? Longitudinal and cross-country evidence from the European Union
Protesting in ‘hard times: Evidence from a comparative analysis of Europe, 2000–2014
This article aims to demonstrate that during an economic crisis political protest increases. Recently, economic performance has suddenly worsened in Europe after a period of relative prosperity. The economic crisis affects citizens, who may turn to political protest to voice their discontent. However, the literature on social movements has often dismissed the link between economic performance and political protest, arguing that dissatisfaction is…
An Apathetic Generation? Cohorts' Patterns of Political Participation in Italy
Voting for Movement Parties in Southern Europe: The Role of Protest and Digital Information
In recent years ‘movement parties’ such as Syriza in Greece, the Movimento 5 Stelle in Italy, Podemos in Spain and—to a lesser extent—Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal shook national party systems, breaking the consolidated dynamics of political competition. Despite growing interest in movement parties, there has been scant attention to the role of citizens adopting unconventional forms of action and using digital media in accounting for their electo…
Left Behind? Gender Gaps in Political Engagement Over the Life Course in Twenty-Seven European Countries
This article investigates gender differences in political involvement in twenty-seven countries across four life course stages: home-leaving, partnership formation, parenthood, and empty nest. Single country studies show that these life events can hamper women’s political engagement, but whether this finding holds cross-nationally remains unclear. Using European Social Survey data, we show that across countries “family intensive” life course stag…
Nonviolent Protest in Europe: The Role of Macroeconomic Conditions in Party and Union Members’ Participation
Published online: 12 January 2018
Repertoires of political participation: Macroeconomic conditions, socioeconomic resources, and participation gaps in Europe
The European economic crisis has stimulated a great deal of research linking contextual macroeconomic conditions and political outputs, as conventional and unconventional political participation. Nevertheless, such research has often treated forms of political participation as independent from each other, overlooking how citizens can choose from combinations of political actions to influence politics in contexts with varying levels of macroeconom…
How citizens evaluate democracy: An assessment using the European Social Survey
How do citizens evaluate democracy? Previous literature trying to address this question has often relied on single indicators to assess citizens’ assessment of democracy. This article contributes to this debate by using multiple indicators measuring different attributes to find a summary measure of citizens’ evaluations of democracy. Using the special module of the sixth round of the European Social Survey ‘Europeans’ understandings and evaluatio…
Political science (38 works) · Politics (37 works) · Law (32 works) · Economics (29 works) · Law (28 works) · Sociology (28 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (24 works) · Political economy (21 works) · Democracy (16 works) · Populism, Right-Wing Movements (15 works)