In the past decades, several commentators have been underlining that the boundaries of government coalitions have become wider. Indeed, ‘single-part’ coalitions (intended as governments made by ideologically homogeneous parties) have faced more and more difficulties. The examples of grand coalitions in Germany, Italy, and Greece, and also the ideologically diverse coalitions in Italy, Greece, and the United Kingdom underline that heterogeneous governmental coalitions have become more common in the Western European panorama. In connection to that, one notices the rise in the importance of technocratic personalities, who have been placed in important positions both in governments and in parliaments. This evolution can also be seen in relationship with the well-known phenomenon underlined by Peter Mair on the presence of parties that govern but do not represent and those who represent but do not govern. So, are there significant differences in the career paths of MPs with a technocratic background vs. the other MPs with a – possibly more classic – party- or institutional-related career? This paper aims at analysing whether such technocratic features foster the selection of Italian MPs for more relevant offices, by comparing the situation before and after the Monti government (2006-2008 vs. 2013-2018). Certain attention is devoted to the careers after the 2018 Italian general election, given the possibly turning point represented by this event for Italian and EU politics: which parties do favour their technocratic components? Is it possible to trace an evolution in this regard? These are some of the questions this paper aims at answering.
