AA.VV.
Partito democratico. Le parole chiave
Editori Riuniti, 2007

A very up to date book.

Edited by Marco Meacci, who we were lucky enough to meet many years ago when he was still the very young Mayor of Monte San Savino (Arezzo), this book attempts to clarify some keywords that should explain the DNA of the emerging democratic party. So many authors with different stories to tell, but joined by a common interest that is political yet also personal and human, and that has influenced their choice to join forces on a new topic.

Amongst the many contributions, not to be missed is the item “Comunicazione” written by our great friend Mario Rodriguez who, as he likes to be described, is considered by everyone as the most important political communicator in the Val di Chiana.

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Alessandro Amadori
Mi consenta
Libri Scheiwiller, 2002

Although certainly dated, this book offers a vivid analysis of Silvio Berlusconi’s communication policy and of the centre-right coalition up to the general election of 2001, which allowed the leader of Forza Italia to return to Palazzo Chigi after 5 years in opposition.

A very thorough work, full of references and quotes, that enables us to contextualize and analyse the political and communicative “Berlusconi” phenomenon without prejudice.

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David Bernstein
Company image and reality
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984

Essential.

Written in a conversational style, every line and each example given deserve close examination and reflection.

Bernstein, a long while ago in 1988, tears to pieces the inaccuracies linked to the “culture of image” and of so-called “image builders” as if the latter could act independently (or as the Italian comedian Totò would say, “regardless of”) of the identity of the company, the product or the person that we want to communicate.

The communicator’s task is not to come up with a particularly winning image and to apply it to a company or product. It is to analyse and understand properly what the features of the company identity are, how these are seen by certain sections of the public and how they need to be assessed by means of a careful communication strategy.

It is a book that has allowed us to better understand and clarify certain ideas that we have been thinking about for sometime.

In our opinion, one of the crucial changes lies in developing the approach devised by the French advertising agency RSCG to publicize their Clients’ products to the company communication.

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Pierre Bourdieu
On television
New Press, 1999

Radio and television news is the subject of this essay by one of the most important intellectuals of our time, the French sociologist and philosopher who died in 2002.

On the one hand, Bourdieu highlights the typical procedures by which the distortion of reality is made use of (or in some cases of the creation of a reality) and which also typifies television journalism. On the other, he points out that people involved in television (directors, journalists and presenters), are manipulated by the logic that controls them and that pervades the field of journalism. One field is: “a structured social space”, with its laws and logic, where economic factors play an important role but not enough to explain its choices.

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Rodolfo Brancoli
In nome della lobby
Garzanti, 1990

Although undoubtedly dated (1990), Brancoli’s book is a “must” for all those involved in lobbying and Public and Government affairs.

A well-spoken and thorough analysis of how lobbies and especially their economic wing (the PACs, Political Action Commettee) influence US politics through the financing of candidates, leaders and parties.

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Massimiano Bucchi
Vino, alghe e mucche pazze
Nuova Eri, 1999

This book analyses how television has dealt with some of the delicate situations that have caused serious social unrest in our country:
the methanol wine(1986), the mucilage in the Adriatic (1989) and the “mad cow” (1993).
Three very different crisis situations being examined to understand:

• how they have been represented and the role of individual players (politicians and institutions, members of the scientific community, those directly involved, consumers/public opinion);
• how the responsibility for events is attributed;
• the role of the information sources;
• solutions been found;
• the role being played by science.

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Enrico Brivio
Come comunica la Casa Bianca
Bridge, 1992

Unfortunately now it is almost completely impossible to find.

Brivio wrote this book while he was the Il Sole 24 Ore New York correspondent.

He analyses from close up, and with plenty of detail, the structure and communication policies of the White House, and how this has suited the different communicative styles of the various US Presidents.

The last chapter is dedicated to the Gulf War (the first obviously).

Some of Brivio’s ideas have been borrowed by other experts and scholars to explain how this war was a watershed in the definition of communication policies and news coverage of military actions.

So many pictures and so little news, and the creation of new expressions: “friendly fire” to explain that soldiers have fired at one another, “collateral damage” to indicate that actions of the “good” had caused deaths among the civilian population.

The linguistic doctoring of the Gulf War is still with us today.

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Ilvo Diamanti
La Lega
Donzelli, 1993

The most thorough study on the political and social phenomena that brought about the birth, and subsequent consolidation, of the Northern League.

The geographical roots, the development of the first movements, the evolution of the leaders’ language and the struggles within the ruling group up to the victory of its most representative leader: Umberto Bossi.

Very well written (like everything that Diamanti writes) and full of information and research, it allows us to understand, beyond the stereotypes, the story of a party that has become, in only a few years, one of the key players in the political life of our Country.

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Giovanni Fasanella
Antonella Grippo
I silenzi degli innocenti
Rizzoli, 2006

The most dramatic events of our recent history told by someone who, unfortunately, experienced them at dangerously close quarters.

In our opinion, this explains the strange and distinctive character of this book, as well its freedom from any ideological prejudice.

The physical pain for the wounds or loss of a loved one and the devastating effects still being felt even years later, unite the victims of the neofascist tragedies (Piazza della Loggia in Brescia, the Italicus train, the one in Bologna Station) and those of red terrorism (the Sossi kidnapping, the “kneecapping” of Maurizio Poddu, Prof. Cuocolo, Roberto Della Rocca and Antonio Iosa, the murder of judge Francesco Coco, police officers Graziosi and Dionigi, warrant officer Berardi, Aldo Moro, the butcher Lino Sabbadin, the journalist Walter Tobagi and, lastly, of Massimo D’Antona, a lawyer expert in labour law).

However, pain is not the only common denominator in such different stories: there is also the pressing demand for the whole truth, without ommissions and State secrets, in order to shed light on a violent period that, as the D’Antona murder shows, is not over yet.

The transition from the second to the third Republic has not yet come to an end. In fact, one of the prerequisites for this to happen is the unveiling of those aspects felt to be hidden behind a curtain of oppressive silence.

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Howard Gardner
Changing minds
Harvard Business Press, 2004

Howard Gardner, one of the world’s most important experts in psychology and famous for his studies on intelligence, teaches education science and psychology at Harvard University. He is also the co-director of Project Zero, an experimental programme on learning mechanisms.

The book parts from the assumption that our ways of thinking are “resistant” to modifications, and therefore tries to analyse what the constituent aspects of mental changes are, how they materialize (a political opinion, a preference for a certain product or company etc) and how we can obtain them.

For Gardner no change is sudden, but on the contrary, mental alterations occur in small steps and gradually, in identifiable ways that can be actively and positively influenced.

Similarly interesting is the analysis of the changes brought about directly by “agents” such as leaders (individuals that have distinctive features such as intelligence, instinct and integrity) and who can alter the ideas of many people with their “histories”.

However, as Gardner points out, a lot of changes can be brought about “indirectly”, by works of genius for example: from Karl Marx to Darwin to Freud.

In short, a book full of examples, quotes, anecdotes, stories and, above all, food for thought.

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Roberto Grandi
Cristian Vaccari
Cofferati anch’io
Baldini & Castoldi Dalai, 2004

The book follows, also using newspaper reports, the year long campaign that ended with Sergio Cofferati’s election as Mayor of Bologna on 13 June 2004.

5 years on from the sensational defeat of the DS (Democrats of the Left)candidate Silvia Bartolini by Giorgio Guazzaloca, the first non-left Mayor of the Emilian city since the war.

Even if the book, in our opinion, is guilty of putting too much emphasis on the innovativeness of the campaign, the following aspects are very interesting:

• the examination of the methods used and the effects (more or less immediate) had on the media;
• the thematization of certain issues and their development.

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Luigi Graziano
Lobbying, Pluralismo, Democrazia
La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1995

In this undoubtedly dated book, Prof. Graziano carefully observes the phenomenon of lobbies and interest groups, starting with the very country where they are so widespread: the United States.

The first part of the volume studies and analyses lobbying as an activity, its working techniques and the ethical and regulatory context in which it takes shape.

However, the second part is more theoretical, as it describes the phenomenon in terms of the “liberal democratic pluralist” theory.

It is an essential work to understand the origin and development not only of interest groups but also of the theories that tried to institutionalize them as an integral part of a complex democracy.

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ITANES (Italian National Elections Studies)
Dov’è la vittoria. Il voto del 2006 raccontato dagli italiani.
Il Mulino, 2006

A useful guide to understand how the Italians voted during last election in 2006.

A strange election, this last one, that was decided by a few thousand votes.

A strange election because it saw the failure of the major Italian survey institutes.

This is why therefore, in analysing how the feelings of the Italian people changed during the campaign and what the most persuasive messages and communication methods were, this guide is essential for anyone who, for work and/or out of interest, follows closely the political events of our Country.

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George Lakoff
Don’t think of an elephant
Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004

A short and important book that became an out and out bestseller in a short time.

Lakoff, a professor at Berkeley University is one of the best-known American linguists .

Over the years he has developed the theory of framing, applying it to political language.

It means knowingly choosing precise language to organize every problem into a wider framework.

In every contest, the winner is the person who manages to impose his own language.

In the United States, the right has succeeded, the left not.

For this reason, according to Lakoff, when debating with an opponent you must never use his language. Otherwise you are doomed to fail.

It is for this reason, therefore, that metaphors are not a linguistic device but an efficient method of communication.

The first metaphor used by the author is being contained in the book’s title, concerning the elephant: if someone tells us constantly not to think of the elephant, in the end we will only be conditioned by this image.

However, the central theme in Lakoff’s theory concerns the family: the Republican family are centred on a strict parent that brings up children to be responsible and to put themselves first, the Democratic one on a considerate father whose heart lies in a more morally sounder society .

According to the author, the Republicans have won all the recent elections for a simple reason: they have insisted on conveying these values and this frame a lot more than the Democrats have.

Lakoff’s ideas can be applied very well to our own political situation: if we think about the defeat in 2001 and the very narrow victory in 2006… we understand how the “the elephant” is still all too present in the Olive Tree coalition’s communication strategy.

The book has also become very famous in Italy as it has been used by both the traditional media and especially by Beppe Grillo in his blog.

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Giuseppe Mazzei
Lobby della trasparenza
Centro di Documentazione Giornalistica, 2003

It is very rare to find books devoted to lobbying in our country: for this reason alone we can recommend this book, halfway between an essay and a manual, that manages to explain very clearly the numerous aspects of an undoubtedly complex subject.

It is therefore suitable not only for those who want to know more about a profession still shrouded in a certain amount of mystery, but for people who are already involved in this professional activity.

While reading it, we particularly appreciated chapter two that focused on Public and Government affairs, and especially the paragraph devoted to agenda setting, a topic that is generally overlooked and that we believe, on the contrary, is central to developing effective lobbying actions..

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Giampietro Mazzoleni
La comunicazione politica
Il Mulino, 2004 (seconda edizione)

For anyone who wants to examine closely the broad field of political communication this book is absolutely not to be missed.

A careful analysis of the relationship between the media and politics. It deals with how they are not only channels for the broadcast of messages, but real entities affecting the choices and attitudes of people in politics and select their ruling classes.

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Dick Morris
Behind the Oval office
Renaissance Books, 1996

Dick Morris is one of the most important figures in the field of American political consulting.

Bill Clinton’s electoral advisor from when he was governor of Arkansas (1978).

He played no part in the 1992 presidential campaign , but according to the major political analysts, Clinton owes his re-election in 1996 to him.

In fact Morris was summoned by the White House after the Democrats’ incredible defeat in the mid-term elections (1994) that allowed the Republicans to gain a majority in both the Senate and the Congress.

In only two years, by promoting a communicative strategy aimed to distance the President from the two political parties, thus making him a politically independent figure, he managed to alter the perceptions of American voters enabling Clinton’s re-election (a real triumph).

The book is also very interesting as it contains the “briefing notes” of 1996 itself, the electoral crucial period of the White House’s communication strategy.

Like all geniuses Morris too had his weaknesses… In fact he had to resign from the presidential staff just two months before seeing his masterpiece completed: the re-election of his friend Bill. An American tabloid published some photos of him in the company of a prostitute with an accompanying interview of the woman in question. As well as going into sordid details on how they spent the time together, she took pains to stress that Morris, solely to impress her, phoned her several times while he was with the President.

Morris resigned giving a perfect explanation: “While I served I sought to avoid the limelight because I did not want to become the message. Now, I resign so I will not become the issue.”

We also adore him for this…

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Vance Packard
The Hidden Persuaders
Pocket, 1984

In 1957 the American sociologist Vance Packard published this book, which analyses the mechanisms that shape public opinion as a result of television and especially advertising.

Communication professionals, therefore, are precisely described by the author in a “big brother” context as “hidden persuaders”, because they used techniques able to influence consumers by playing on their subconscious.

Alongside the persuaders there are also new figures: market research experts, people that carry out surveys etc, who, according to Packard, always had the task to examine closely people’s hopes not only for “products” but also for life…

The “prophecies” contained in this book have not, fortunately, come true.

Advertising (and television) are only a very limited part of economic and social life: in addition, we also have numerous information sources through which we can check the truth of the promises made in television adverts or in other means of communication.

Packard and his book can therefore be considered in every respect the founders of that “anti-advertising” thinking which is now fortunately seen to be defeated. However, there is some cause for reflection more than ever now, especially from an ethical point of view.

A dated book therefore and biased, but it cannot be missing from the book collection of a lobbyist or, for that matter, of a communicator.

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Ailes Roger
You are the message
Dobleday, 1989

Roger Ailes is one of the most charismatic figures in the field of American communication as well as being one of the most qualified spin doctors in American politics.

An expert on television having produced successful programmes (and thus the winner of numerous prizes) he became involved in politics many years ago in 1967, working as an advisor to Richard Nixon.

Various Republican candidates have made use of his skill in election campaigns but his main success was to stand alongside Ronald Reagan in his victorious re-election campaign in 1984.

Ailes’ task was to prepare the President for television appearances, to make his message more concise and to “warm up” the viewer with an open and reassuring attitude.

An experience that Ailes repeated four years later when he guided Bush senior to the White House. He was certainly a harder politician than his predecessor in his attitude to communication.

Having given up political consulting, he returned to television as the first president of CNBC. This experience ended when he was asked by the magnate Rupert Murdoch to head Fox, with the aim of creating an “all news” television channel capable of reducing CNN’s viewing figures.

A task that Ailes succeeded in accomplishing by making Fox the out and out reference point of world news.

Moreover, even if this is not official, many believe that the Bush senior clan asked Ailes to help the current President after 11 September. Even if he obviously refused, however.

The book was written in 1989 and is therefore very dated.

Despite the passing of time, Ailes’ ideas are still valid for a presentation, a meeting or when arranging an interview.

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Massimo Teodori
Soldi e partiti
Ponte alle Grazie, 1999

Dated, boring for non-experts and maybe impossible to find.

Nevertheless, Teodori tackles, with careful and substantial research, one of the central, albeit resolved, issues in Italian politics: the cost of democracy and, consequently, the financing of political parties.

A taboo subject that the ruling classes of our country have never seriously wanted to confront.

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Larry Tye
The father of Spin
Edward L. Bernays and the birth of public relations
Henry Holt, 1998

Edward Bernays is certainly one of the “mythical figures” of world public relations.

If the twentieth century saw this communication sector develop and get stronger, Bernays was one of this century’s leading figures.

The book covers his entire professional career using also, and this is certainly the most interesting point, the more than 800 boxes of documentation that Bearnays left the American Library of Congress.

According to professor Grunig, one of the most important experts on public relations, Bernays is the first professional to apply a scientific approach to public relations. Enquiries and research become fundamental to understand attitudes and trends of public opinion.

During his very long life Bernays worked for the most important American corporations devising and applying methodologies that, over the years, have been imitated by other people in all fields, political communication included.

In an interview quoted in the book, Bernays states, almost proudly, that his activity can be put down to propaganda and that he had always hoped that it was “proper–ganda and not improper-ganda”.

For this reason also the book’s title is perfectly accurate: the father of spin.

Who else could it be?

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The Constitution of the Italian Republic

It is the fundamental law of our judicial system, the main source from which the legality of all other sources originates.

Criticized, attacked, defended and also recently modified.

However, it has been at the centre of the political debate for over twenty five years.

No-one in our line of work cannot not know about it.

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Chamber and Senate Regulations

The regulatory tool used by the two branches of our Parliament discipline and regulate their activities according to the constitutional text (art. 64 and 72).

Both passed in 1971, they have undergone numerous changes over the years. The last were in 1999 for the Chamber of Deputies and in 2003 for the Senate.

They are the basis for knowing the “formal” parliamentary decision-making process.