“Vorrei ma non posso”: la comunicazione politica vista dai parlamentari italiani

This article draws data from a survey, carried on on Italian MPs of the XIII legislature, on how politicians perceive the characteristics of the “electoral market”. After discussing the importance of this perspective of analysis, the article presents data on some issues related to political communication: the activities and tools used by politicians to get informed on the characteristics of the electorate, the influence of different means of communication on citizens, the relationship between political communication and different types of vote, the personalization concerning national leaders and MPs. According to MPs, communication and television play a relevant role in making the electoral market to be characterized by too high expectations towards politicians, by particularism and irrationality of electors, by the failed development of virtuous patterns of representation at the constituency level, by a politics that is excessively focussed on national leaders: a mix of superficiality, leaderisation, irresponsibility.