Beyond protest: issues and ideological inconsistencies in the voters of the Movimento 5 Stelle

The main goal of this chapter is to understand whether the voters of the 5 Stars Movement (M5S) are a chaotic assortment of individuals united only by their protest against the political establishment (or, at most, by a confused desire for change), or whether they share common values, a vision of democracy and fundamental political attitudes. The question is therefore whether we are faced with the complete ideological heterogeneity that typifies populist movements, or whether we can identify in the M5S electorate a significant level of political and ideological homogeneity. In the former case, we can expect a rapid decline of the movement, despite its incredible success in the 2013 general elections; in the latter case, we will try to trace the borders and discover the content of a new social and political entity that is potentially able to deeply influence Italian politics in the coming years.