The Five-star Movement inside the institutions in Sicily: from ‘swimming the Strait’ to institutionalisation in local politics

This article considers the institutionalisation of the Five-star Movement(M5s) in regional and local councils. It discusses the process of theMovement’s institutionalisation, analysing the development of itsinternal organisation; its local platforms and political performance; itsinstitutional repertoire of action, and the several internal and externalconflicts between its own rules and the ‘others’. In particular, the articleinvestigates the changes affecting the M5s after its engagement withthe Sicilian regional assembly and Sicilian municipal councils, and theways in which the specific institutionalisation process it underwentwas influenced by the complexities of the political and socio-economiccontext. It concludes that in studying the local level, it is possible betterto understand the nature of its organisation and the type of institutionalisationit has undergone.