PACO, ISSN: 2035-6609 - Copyright © 2020 - University of Salento, SIBA: http://siba-ese.unisalento.it PArtecipazione e COnflitto http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco ISSN: 1972-7623 (print version) ISSN: 2035-6609 (electronic version) PACO, Issue 13(3) 2020: 1469-1486 DOI: 10.1285/i20356609v13i3p1469 Published in November 15, 2020 Work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial- Share alike 3.0 Italian License RESEARCH ARTICLE Populist punitiveness in the Italian Populistic Yellow-Green Gov- ernment Stefano Anastasìa University of Perugia Manuel Anselmi Unitelma Sapienza – University of Rome ABSTRACT: In this article we present a general interpretation of the recent tendency of Italian political forces to promote laws in the criminal field aimed more at producing political consensus of an emotional kind than at addressing real legal and social needs. In particular we’ll demonstrate how the social trend could be classified as ‘populist punitiveness’, which has be- come stronger with the so-called populist turn of the Italian political system during the early 90s of the last century, and how it has become a permanent trait of the neo-populist forces that have dominated the Italian political scene for the past twenty-five years. In particular, we will analyse the government formed by the Northern League and the 5 Star Movement, also called the yellow-green government, headed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in power from June 2018 to September 2019. We will highlight how some of the most significant criminal laws have followed a general pat- tern that corresponds to a punitive vision of society, aimed at fostering feelings of fear and protection that are irrational rather than grounded. Our thesis is that the neo-populist turn of the Italian system has not only profoundly transformed the system and political structures of the country but also civil society and the public opinion, rebalancing entire spheres of the Italian social and political system. KEYWORDS: Italian Populism, Penal Populism, 5 Star Movement, Northern League, Populist punitiveness. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR(S): stefano.anastasia@unipg.it, manuel.anselmi@unitelmasapienza.it