ELIO CARANTI. Sociologia e statistica delle elezioni italiane nel dopoguerra. Pp. 176. Rome: Editrice Studium, n. d. L. 200

• Author: Robert Sabatino Lopez
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625630400174
• Subject Matter: Articles

189

porations

in

order

to

make

effective

use

of

the

yardstick

principle

as

in

the

Tennessee

Valley

Authority;

(3)

where

international

interdependencies

and

the

need

for

the

de-

velopment

of

large

free-market

areas

are

especially

striking

the

subjection

of

na-

tional

corporations

to

super-national

au-

thorities

as

in

the

case

of

the

European

Coal

and

Steel

Community;

and

(4)

the

giving

up,

or

&dquo;privatizing,&dquo;

of

a

wide

va-

riety

of

relatively

small,

scattered

indus-

tries

and

businesses

from

whose

operation

by

government,

even

to

the

most

ardent

socializers,

little

of

public

advantage

can

be

expected.

There

are

a

few

flaws

in

these

otherwise

admirable

short

studies.

Closer

familiarity

with

the

British

nationalized

industries

would

have

disclosed

that

they

are

by

no

means

the

models

of

efficiency

these

au-

thors

imply.

Nor

will

it

do

to

assume

that

the

nonnationalized

industries

in

that

coun-

try

are

left

untouched

because

they

are

not

in

need

of

reorganization.

The

chaos

of

the

British

textile

industry

is

a

particu-

larly

striking

case

in

point.

Again,

TVA

was

only

in

part

advocated

because

of

its

yardstick

function.

Far

more

important

were

the

problems

of

multiple

purpose

de-

velopment.

The

need

for technical

ra-

tionalization

of

both

French

and

Italian

industries,

heavy

and

light

alike,

is

greater

than

these

writers

suppose.

Nevertheless,

this

volume

is

a

remark-

ably

compact,

objective,

and

well-reasoned

presentation

of

one

of

the

most

significant

problems

of

contemporary

times.

ROBERT

A.

BRADY

University

of

California

Berkeley

ELIO

CARANTI.

Sociologia

e

statistica

delle

elezioni

italiane

nel

dopoguerra.

Pp.

176.

Rome:

Editrice

Studium,

n.

d.

L.

200.

While

statistics

in

Italy

has

a

long

and

brilliant

history,

electoral

statistics

and

its

scientific

elaboration

had

to

wait

for

the

fall

of

the

Fascist

regime.

Therefore

Elio

Caranti’s

little

book,

in

spite

of

a

certain

lack

of

depth

and

of

methodological

short-

comings,

must

be

welcomed

as a

pioneer

work

which

will

render

good

services

to

an

expert

reader

and

will

provide

the

unex-

perienced

one

with

a

well

rounded,

if

not

wholly

unbiased,

political

orientation.

Though

Signor

Caranti

occasionally

quotes

American

works,

his

methods

are

chiefly

those

of

the

French

school

of

géographie

Jlectorale

founded

by

Andr6

Siegfried.

This

is

quite

understandable

since

France

and

Italy

have

much

in

common,

includ-

ing

a

multiparty

system.

Siegfried,

how-

ever,

singled

out

two

opposite

tendencies-

conservatism

and

progressiveness-as

the

basic

ingredients

which,

more

or

less

wa-

tered

down

or

intermingled,

form

the

foun-

dation

of

the

checkered

and

changing

po-

litical

spectrum

of

France.

Perhaps

be-

cause

he

does

not

like

to

call

his

own

party

&dquo;conservative,&dquo;

Signor

Caranti,

ob-

viously

a

Demochristian

of

the

left

wing,

introduces

a

few

more

&dquo;cardinal

points,&dquo;

extremism

(represented

by

Communists

and

Fascists)

and

moderation

(represented

by

Demochristians

and

Republicans).

Cer-

tainly

this

distinction

has

tremendous

prac-

tical

importance

and

may

often

lead

both

extremes

to

gang

up

against

a

coalized

mean;

but

does

it

really

represent

another

Cartesian

co-ordinate

rather

than

a

differ-

ence

in

intensity

along

the

same

line?

Moderate

though

they

are,

the

policies

of

the

Demochristians

are

definitely

conserva-

tive.

In

words

if

not

in

deeds,

the

Com-

munist

platform

is

extreme

but

progres-

sive.

If

Siegfried’s

graded

scale

needs

an-

other

co-ordinate,

this

ought

rather

to

be

the

opposition

between

lay

and

religious

tendencies,

which

is

independent

of

con-

servatism

and

progressiveness

and

may

be

observed

at

all

ranges

of

the

graded

scale.

One

does

not

have

to

agree

with

Signor

Caranti

to

appreciate

the

wealth

of

sta-

tistical

data

often

divided

by

regions,

provinces,

age

groups,

and

sexes

which

he

offers

on

every

Italian

vote

since

1946

and

on

a

good

deal

of

relevant

economic,

cul-

tural,

and

social

problems.

The

latter

will

prove

most

instructive

for

the

average

American

reader

who

can

easily

find

in

his

newspaper

a

competent

analysis

of

the

Italian

vote

and

its

changes

from

one

elec-

tion

to

another,

but

not

a

reminder

of

such

underlying

factors

as

the

following:

in

Upper

Italy

only

0.3

per

cent

of

brides

in

1951

were

unable

to

sign

their

wedding

certificate,

whereas

in

Southern

Italy

the