Malthusian Dynamics in a Diverging Europe: Northern Italy, 1650–1881

Recent empirical research questions the validity of using Malthusian theory in preindustrial England. Using real wage and vital rate data for the years 1650–1881, I provide empirical estimates for a different region: Northern Italy. The empirical methodology is theoretically underpinned by a simple Malthusian model, in which population, real wages, and vital rates are determined endogenously. My findings strongly support the existence of a Malthusian economy wherein population growth decreased living standards, which in turn influenced vital rates. However, these results also demonstrate how the system is best characterized as one of weak homeostasis. Furthermore, there is no evidence of Boserupian effects given that increases in population failed to spur any sustained technological progress.

L'Europe et les partis politiques nationaux: Les lecons d'un

European integration remains a 'non-cleavage' in relation to the Lipset-Rokkan model, as it has not produced significant restructurings of national party systems. Yet, while not effecting the terms of interparty competition, Europe has nevertheless come to occupy an increasingly large place in national political debates. Since the early 1990s, Euroscepticisms have taken root, to varying degrees, across the entire continent. This article analyses the rise of these Eurosceptic tendencies, examining the phenomenon in terms of both the Europeanisation of national political life and the wider emergence of forms of protest politics. The analysis demonstrates how European questions have been absorbed into established party structures, while at the same time pointing towards a renewed research agenda which pays greater attention both to the discursive dimension of political life and to the roles played by national parties as European actors.