Democracy and Secession: The case of the “Lega Nord party” in the North of Italy

This paper provides an analysis of the “Lega Nord case” during the decade between 1990 and 2000 through the use of critical normative debates on the question of democracy and self-determination through secession.
The “Lega Nord” referred openly to the possibility of secession of the North of Italy from the rest of the country only from 1996 to 1999. Later on the “Lega Nord” has not mentioned the secession but has stated that its ultimate political goal is more federal in nature.
Beyond the statements of the “Lega Nord”, frequently used for political reasons or electoral strategies, however, the “Lega Nord” party claims a greater autonomy for the North of Italy.
Buchanan and Philpott provide a useful theoretical background within which I would like to evaluate the intention of the “Lega Nord”. This could be said to be because they are particularly interesting on the theoretical point of view; secondly because they are very well defined compared to the others, and thirdly because they are antithetic