ABSTRACT
Despite primary elections in Italy continue to be asymmetric – i.e. carried out only
by the center-left coalition – their ability to involve the electorate and their growing media
impact make it a powerful democratic tool. In this article we study the 2012 Italian primary
elections, held by the center-left coalition in order to select the prime ministerial candidate
for the 2013 general elections. In particular, we will shed light on three dimensions: turnout,
electoral results and competitiveness. We will also take into account the role played by the
new candidate selection rule – the two-round system – which will allow us to collect a lot of
information about the voting behavior of the selectorate. What has been the turnout level in the
2012 Italian primary elections? Which similarities and differences can be found in the patterns
of participation between the first and the second round? Which factors may explain the territorial
differences in turnout levels? What have been the territorial patterns of voting behavior
for the main candidates? The 2012 primary elections have been more or less competitive with
respect to the previous Italian national primaries? We will try to address these questions through
the use of a mainly quantitative methodology with aggregate data.