Embodying People Comparing the Lega and the Law and Justice Party

Law and Justice and the Lega are two radical right-wing parties that have received somewhat different electoral mandates. The support given to PiS appears to be strongly linked to the idea of the sovereignty and autonomy of the nation in policy making—especially in the fields of energy transition, justice, immigration and Catholic culture—but it does not question full adherence to the European project. In Italy, support for the Lega is more clearly based on Eurosceptical attitudes linked to austerity, the Euro and migration policies. Sovereignty is thus conceived differently by the two parties and so has different connotations in their communication. In this chapter we compare the two parties in terms of their nature as parties, their relationships with the media and the nature of their leadership.