Electoral abstentionism as democratic regression?

On October 7, 2024, starting at 11:30 AM, the conference "Electoral Abstention as Democratic Regression? Issues and Perspectives on Political Representation" will take place. The event is organized as part of the PRIN project "Framing and Diagnosing Constitutional Degradation: a Comparative Perspective," Sassari unit, headed by Carla Bassu, in collaboration with the Master in Electoral Sciences and Government of La Sapienza, University of Rome, and the Vittorio Occorsio Foundation.

The first session is hosted by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, which sponsors the event alongside the Uniss Doctoral School. After institutional greetings from the Director of Dumas, Lucia Cardone, and the Secretary General of the Occorsio Foundation, Carmela Decaro, speakers will include Francesco Clementi, constitutionalist from the University of Rome La Sapienza, Daniela Marella, statistician from La Sapienza of Rome, and Silvia Sassi, constitutionalist from the University of Florence, coordinated by Tommaso Edoardo Frosini from the University Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples, who will guide the dialogue on tools to revitalize the representation system.

The afternoon session, at 4:00 PM, will take place at the University Library of Sassari and will begin with greetings from the Library Director, Giovanni Fiori, followed by an introductory address by former Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, and contributions from Claudia Marchese of the University of Sassari and Marco Schirripa from the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, who will discuss new forms of participation capable of combating abstention and encouraging citizens to actively participate in public life and return to the polls. Carla Bassu, from the University of Sassari, will chair the session.

The day will conclude with a roundtable led by the Deputy Editor of TGR Sardegna, Paolo Mastino, featuring parliamentarians Maria Elena Boschi, Deputy of Italia Viva; Francesca Ghirra, Deputy of AVS; Ettore Licheri, Senator of M5S; Silvio Lai and Marco Meloni, respectively Deputy and Senator of PD; Pietro Pittalis, Senator of FI, and Antonella Zedda, Senator of FDI. The closing remarks will be delivered by Gian Mario Demuro from the University of Cagliari.