Pepijn Corduwener
Biographic Data
| ID | 4384541 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pepijn Corduwener |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pepijn |
| FAMILY NAME | Corduwener |
| SIGNATURE | CORDUWENER P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Utrecht University |
| ORCID | 0009-0001-4954-774X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Exploring the question of Italy’s ‘difficult democracy’. Comparing the formations of the centre-left and the West German grand coalition
A historical turn in the study of media governance. A research agenda for Europe in times of democratic crisis
The liberalization of the media stands very much at the forefront in public, policy and academic concerns on how our current model of media governance affects democracy. But the discussion on the effects of media liberalization has obscured the vital question why liberalization was able to become the dominant media governance paradigm in the first place. This research note makes the case for a historical turn to answer this question. It argues th…
The British Occupation and the Making of Democracy in Italy and Germany, 1943–1949
Over the past two decades, historians have become increasingly fascinated by the question of what enabled the emergence of a stable model of democracy in post-war Western Europe, characterized by the persistence of pre-war elites and top-down forms of decision-making. This article reveals the importance of the British occupations during and after the Second World War in fostering this model of democracy. It does so by comparing and weaving togeth…
The Rise and Fall of the People's Parties: A History of Democracy in Western Europe since 1918
The decline of the centre-left and centre-right people’s parties is arguably the most poignant feature of the crisis of democracy in Western Europe today. To understand why, this book explores the striking parallels between the life of democracy and that of the people’s parties over the course of the past century. It offers a transnational window on the history of democracy since 1918 by weaving together three epochs which are often studied apart…
The Italian Party System before the crash: Parties and the challenge of renewal in the 1980s
As many historians suggest, the collapse of the Italian party system in the early 1990s was the result of dynamics that had troubled the political system in the previous decade. This Special Issue examines the parties’ views on the loss of their capacity for representation and governance in the 1980s. The focus is on how aware the political actors themselves were of the ‘crisis’ of the political system and the need for reform of some of its aspec…
Parties between continuity and change since 1980s – Italy and beyond
The Italian Socialist Party and the crisis of party democracy. The transformation of the Italian socialists
The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) is central to any history of the crisis of Italy’s post-war system of party democracy. The party seemed to be in its death throes during the mid-1970s, but under the new leadership of Bettino Craxi, elected in 1976, the party made a surprisingly successful political comeback. However, in the early 1990s, the party’s success quickly evaporated. It became the face of the Tangentopoli scandals as many Socialist poli…
Gerhard Leibholz, Costantino Mortati and the ideological roots of postwar party democracy in Germany and Italy
This article studies the ideological roots of the particular form of party democracy that was established in Germany and Italy after 1945. Given the deeply rooted tradition of anti-party politics and the previous failure to construct stable party democracies, it is remarkable that political parties evolved into the central actors of post-1945 democratic regimes in Germany and Italy. This article investigates how postwar reforms in this regard bui…
Democracy and the Entanglement of Political Parties and the State: Party–State Relations in 20th-Century France, Italy, and Germany
This article makes a plea for a historical turn in the study of party–state relations. Building on recent insights on the role of political parties in institution-making which have emerged in the historical sciences, it suggests that the deployment of a historical institutionalist perspective can tackle the difficulties in isolating the causal mechanisms and identifying empirical indicators of party–state entanglement, which stand at the foregrou…
Institutionalizing the democratic party-state: Political parties as ‘public utilities’ in Italy and West Germany, 1945–75
This article argues that the rise of parties as ‘public utilities’, that is, semi-state organs crucial in the functioning of democracy, which is currently observed by political scientists, has long historical roots. It looks from an institutionalist perspective to the development of party–state relations in Germany and Italy since the Second World War, paying specific attention to how institutional reform corresponded to changing normative assump…
The Problem of Democracy in Postwar Europe: Political Actors and the Formation of the Postwar Model of Democracy in France, West Germany and Italy
The current perception of democratic crisis in Western Europe gives a renewed urgency to a new perspective on the way democracy was reconstructed after World War II and the principles that underpinned its postwar transformation. This study accounts for the formation of the postwar democratic order in Western Europe by studying how the main political actors in France, West Germany and Italy conceptualized democracy and strove over its meaning. Bas…
Research Note: Integrating contemporary populism with the history of democracy in Western Europe
Populism has become a resilient political phenomenon. Much of the normative political science on this topic is concerned with the relationship between democracy and populism. At the same time, the characterisation of post-war democracy has emerged as a key focal point in recent contributions to political history. This research note explores how both these developments and their disciplines might benefit from closer collaboration. It highlights, t…
Challenging Parties and Anti-Fascism in the Name of Democracy: The Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque and its Impact on Italy's Republic
This article studies the political ideology of the Italian political movement Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque in the light of the problems of party democracy in Italy. The movement existed only for a few years in the aftermath of the Second World War, but the impact of its ideology on post-war Italy was large. The article argues that the party's ideology should be studied beyond the anti-fascist–fascist divide and that it provides a window onto the co…
Democracy as a Contested Concept in Post-War Western Europe: A Comparative Study of Political Debates in France, West Germany, and Italy
This article explores how political parties in France, West Germany, and Italy conceptualized democracy and challenged the conceptions of democracy of their political adversaries between the end of the 1940s and the early 1960s. It studies from a comparative perspective the different conceptions of democracy held by Christian democrat, Left-wing, and Gaullist political actors and shows how these diverged on key issues such as the economic system,…
The Populist Conception of Democracy beyond Popular Sovereignty
With populist parties making electoral progress across the European continent, the question of what their electoral success means for contemporary democratic systems has gained increasing significance. This article investigates how two populist radical right parties, the Austrian FPÖ and the Dutch PVV, conceptualise democracy, based on a wide range of party documents released over recent decades. It builds upon recent academic consensus that the …
Eichmann is My Father’: Harry Mulisch, the Eichmann Trial and the Question of Guilt
The trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 did much to stimulate the debate about the remembrance and nature of the Holocaust after the ‘Silent Fifties’ in Europe. This article studies the interpretation of this trial by the Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch. It contextualizes his work in the remembrance of the Holocaust in postwar Europe and compares it with the most famous and controversial understanding of the trial, that of Hannah Arendt—who stated that …
Challenging Parties and Anti-Fascism in the Name of Democracy: The Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque and its Impact on Italy's Republic
This article studies the political ideology of the Italian political movement Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque in the light of the problems of party democracy in Italy. The movement existed only for a few years in the aftermath of the Second World War, but the impact of its ideology on post-war Italy was large. The article argues that the party's ideology should be studied beyond the anti-fascist–fascist divide and that it provides a window onto the co…
Democracy as a Contested Concept in Post-War Western Europe: A Comparative Study of Political Debates in France, West Germany, and Italy
This article explores how political parties in France, West Germany, and Italy conceptualized democracy and challenged the conceptions of democracy of their political adversaries between the end of the 1940s and the early 1960s. It studies from a comparative perspective the different conceptions of democracy held by Christian democrat, Left-wing, and Gaullist political actors and shows how these diverged on key issues such as the economic system,…
The Populist Conception of Democracy beyond Popular Sovereignty
With populist parties making electoral progress across the European continent, the question of what their electoral success means for contemporary democratic systems has gained increasing significance. This article investigates how two populist radical right parties, the Austrian FPÖ and the Dutch PVV, conceptualise democracy, based on a wide range of party documents released over recent decades. It builds upon recent academic consensus that the …
The British Occupation and the Making of Democracy in Italy and Germany, 1943–1949
Over the past two decades, historians have become increasingly fascinated by the question of what enabled the emergence of a stable model of democracy in post-war Western Europe, characterized by the persistence of pre-war elites and top-down forms of decision-making. This article reveals the importance of the British occupations during and after the Second World War in fostering this model of democracy. It does so by comparing and weaving togeth…
Democracy and the Entanglement of Political Parties and the State: Party–State Relations in 20th-Century France, Italy, and Germany
This article makes a plea for a historical turn in the study of party–state relations. Building on recent insights on the role of political parties in institution-making which have emerged in the historical sciences, it suggests that the deployment of a historical institutionalist perspective can tackle the difficulties in isolating the causal mechanisms and identifying empirical indicators of party–state entanglement, which stand at the foregrou…
The Populist Conception of Democracy beyond Popular Sovereignty
With populist parties making electoral progress across the European continent, the question of what their electoral success means for contemporary democratic systems has gained increasing significance. This article investigates how two populist radical right parties, the Austrian FPÖ and the Dutch PVV, conceptualise democracy, based on a wide range of party documents released over recent decades. It builds upon recent academic consensus that the …
Eichmann is My Father’: Harry Mulisch, the Eichmann Trial and the Question of Guilt
The trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 did much to stimulate the debate about the remembrance and nature of the Holocaust after the ‘Silent Fifties’ in Europe. This article studies the interpretation of this trial by the Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch. It contextualizes his work in the remembrance of the Holocaust in postwar Europe and compares it with the most famous and controversial understanding of the trial, that of Hannah Arendt—who stated that …
Democracy as a Contested Concept in Post-War Western Europe: A Comparative Study of Political Debates in France, West Germany, and Italy
This article explores how political parties in France, West Germany, and Italy conceptualized democracy and challenged the conceptions of democracy of their political adversaries between the end of the 1940s and the early 1960s. It studies from a comparative perspective the different conceptions of democracy held by Christian democrat, Left-wing, and Gaullist political actors and shows how these diverged on key issues such as the economic system,…
The Problem of Democracy in Postwar Europe: Political Actors and the Formation of the Postwar Model of Democracy in France, West Germany and Italy
The current perception of democratic crisis in Western Europe gives a renewed urgency to a new perspective on the way democracy was reconstructed after World War II and the principles that underpinned its postwar transformation. This study accounts for the formation of the postwar democratic order in Western Europe by studying how the main political actors in France, West Germany and Italy conceptualized democracy and strove over its meaning. Bas…
Research Note: Integrating contemporary populism with the history of democracy in Western Europe
Populism has become a resilient political phenomenon. Much of the normative political science on this topic is concerned with the relationship between democracy and populism. At the same time, the characterisation of post-war democracy has emerged as a key focal point in recent contributions to political history. This research note explores how both these developments and their disciplines might benefit from closer collaboration. It highlights, t…
Challenging Parties and Anti-Fascism in the Name of Democracy: The Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque and its Impact on Italy's Republic
This article studies the political ideology of the Italian political movement Fronte dell'Uomo Qualunque in the light of the problems of party democracy in Italy. The movement existed only for a few years in the aftermath of the Second World War, but the impact of its ideology on post-war Italy was large. The article argues that the party's ideology should be studied beyond the anti-fascist–fascist divide and that it provides a window onto the co…
Institutionalizing the democratic party-state: Political parties as ‘public utilities’ in Italy and West Germany, 1945–75
This article argues that the rise of parties as ‘public utilities’, that is, semi-state organs crucial in the functioning of democracy, which is currently observed by political scientists, has long historical roots. It looks from an institutionalist perspective to the development of party–state relations in Germany and Italy since the Second World War, paying specific attention to how institutional reform corresponded to changing normative assump…
Democracy and the Entanglement of Political Parties and the State: Party–State Relations in 20th-Century France, Italy, and Germany
This article makes a plea for a historical turn in the study of party–state relations. Building on recent insights on the role of political parties in institution-making which have emerged in the historical sciences, it suggests that the deployment of a historical institutionalist perspective can tackle the difficulties in isolating the causal mechanisms and identifying empirical indicators of party–state entanglement, which stand at the foregrou…
Gerhard Leibholz, Costantino Mortati and the ideological roots of postwar party democracy in Germany and Italy
This article studies the ideological roots of the particular form of party democracy that was established in Germany and Italy after 1945. Given the deeply rooted tradition of anti-party politics and the previous failure to construct stable party democracies, it is remarkable that political parties evolved into the central actors of post-1945 democratic regimes in Germany and Italy. This article investigates how postwar reforms in this regard bui…
The Italian Socialist Party and the crisis of party democracy. The transformation of the Italian socialists
The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) is central to any history of the crisis of Italy’s post-war system of party democracy. The party seemed to be in its death throes during the mid-1970s, but under the new leadership of Bettino Craxi, elected in 1976, the party made a surprisingly successful political comeback. However, in the early 1990s, the party’s success quickly evaporated. It became the face of the Tangentopoli scandals as many Socialist poli…
The Rise and Fall of the People's Parties: A History of Democracy in Western Europe since 1918
The decline of the centre-left and centre-right people’s parties is arguably the most poignant feature of the crisis of democracy in Western Europe today. To understand why, this book explores the striking parallels between the life of democracy and that of the people’s parties over the course of the past century. It offers a transnational window on the history of democracy since 1918 by weaving together three epochs which are often studied apart…
The Italian Party System before the crash: Parties and the challenge of renewal in the 1980s
As many historians suggest, the collapse of the Italian party system in the early 1990s was the result of dynamics that had troubled the political system in the previous decade. This Special Issue examines the parties’ views on the loss of their capacity for representation and governance in the 1980s. The focus is on how aware the political actors themselves were of the ‘crisis’ of the political system and the need for reform of some of its aspec…
Parties between continuity and change since 1980s – Italy and beyond
A historical turn in the study of media governance. A research agenda for Europe in times of democratic crisis
The liberalization of the media stands very much at the forefront in public, policy and academic concerns on how our current model of media governance affects democracy. But the discussion on the effects of media liberalization has obscured the vital question why liberalization was able to become the dominant media governance paradigm in the first place. This research note makes the case for a historical turn to answer this question. It argues th…
The British Occupation and the Making of Democracy in Italy and Germany, 1943–1949
Over the past two decades, historians have become increasingly fascinated by the question of what enabled the emergence of a stable model of democracy in post-war Western Europe, characterized by the persistence of pre-war elites and top-down forms of decision-making. This article reveals the importance of the British occupations during and after the Second World War in fostering this model of democracy. It does so by comparing and weaving togeth…
Exploring the question of Italy’s ‘difficult democracy’. Comparing the formations of the centre-left and the West German grand coalition
Political science (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Political economy (14 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Democracy (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Communism, Protests, Social Movements (7 works) · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society (6 works) · Economics (5 works)