|Powering in assenza di puzzling: dieci anni di dibattito politico sul reddito minimo in Italia

Over the past decade, Italy has undergone significant shifts in its anti-poverty policies, marked by three major reforms introduced in quick succession: the Inclusion Income, which was soon replaced by the Citizens’ Income, and, most recently, the Inclusion Allowance. This paper outlines the key differences between these policies and examines the academic literature on their strengths and weaknesses. It also analyses public discourse on minimum income policies through news media data, with the aim of identifying the positions of various political actors, the coalitions they form, the policy aspects they emphasize, and the dominant frames shaping anti-poverty policy discussions over the past decade. The findings reveal a notable gap between expert and political debates on anti-poverty policy in Italy, with the field heavily influenced by dynamics of hyper-politicization aimed at securing support from specific groups and voters. Initially, competitive credit-claiming drove expansive reforms. However, the emergence of an anti-minimum income coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni, has led to policy retrenchment and a shift back toward categorization and fragmentation.