The party politics of the digital transformation: insights from the Italian case

Digital transformation has become an increasingly important policy concern for European decision-makers, though its prominence in political debate remains uncertain. Existing literature on the salience of this issue presents conflicting findings, attributing variation either to the peripheral role of political actors or to their ideological orientations. This article contributes to this body of research by offering new insights into the dynamics of issue salience within the Italian party system over the past decade. Drawing on a content analysis of party manifestos from the 2013, 2018, and 2022 elections, we demonstrate that parties’ ideological positions play a significant role in shaping the extent to which they highlight digital transformation. Emphasis on this issue is typically associated with principles of cultural progressivism and aligned either with market liberalism or social democratic welfarism. The Five Star Movement was the first to bring digital transformation onto the political agenda, spurring engagement from the Democratic Party and smaller centrist parties. Finally, a complementary qualitative analysis of the manifesto excerpts used in the content analysis reveals distinct framing differences between the centre-right and centre-left. While centre-right parties tend to frame digital transformation primarily as a tool for streamlining public administration, centre-left parties emphasize its potential to expand access to new enabling public services.