Populism and Criminal Justice in Italy

The article shows how the interplay between populism and criminal justice may bring the risk of a real retrograde step and fuel a kind of “penal extremism”. The starting point of Selvaggi’s analysis is that in relation to social problems of varying degrees of gravity, criminal justice is constantly being called for in order to deal, in the most politically advantageous way, with the problems posed by security and the need for collective reassurance. And while the primacy of criminal justice unleashes a dangerous chase after ever harsher punishments and ever stricter treatment of offenders, the associated penal legislation tends to divert from classical and liberal principles. In the wake of the Tangentopoli scandals, the criminal justice system has become a major actor in the legal and political system, and mass popular expectations have been placed on it. In recent years, the moralising attitudes of populisms have fuelled a kind of “penal extremism”. We would like to th