Beppe Grillo's First Defeat? The May 2013 Municipal Elections in Italy

The article analyses the results of the Italian municipal elections held in May 2013. It focuses on their three most striking features: the clear victory of the centre-left coalition, the marked drop in voter turnout and the shrinkage of the Five Stars Movement (M5S). The article analyses the causes of the M5S' loss of votes and interprets this new party with reference to European (disaffection towards political institutions and the ‘counter-democracy’ phenomenon as explained by Rosanvallon) and Italian (the crumbling of the party system) variables.