Suchergebnisse

AbstractUntil the early 1990s, the Italian political system was regarded as anomalous among advanced democracies because of its failure to achieve alternation in government. Since then, that problem has been overcome, but Italy has been popularly viewed as continuing to be different to other democracies because it is 'in transition' between regimes. However, this position itself is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because of the length of time of this so-called transition. Rather than focus on what is rather an abstract debate, it may be more fruitful to analyse what, in substance, is distinctive about Italian politics in this period: the manner in which a debate over fundamental institutional (including electoral) reform has become entangled in day-to-day politics. This can best be exemplified through an analysis of two key electoral consultations held in 2006: the national elections and the referendum on radically revising the Italian Constitution.

This article evaluates the electoral and political significance of the 2001 general election in Italy, which gave a clear-cut victory to a centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi and his party, Forza Italia, and led to the creation of the second Berlusconi government. This is placed in the broader context of the transition which Italian politics has been undergoing since the early 1990s, a period which marked the undermining of the long-term stabilities of the Italian political system. On the basis of an analysis of both the election and the experience of the government in its first year in office, the article argues that the election constitutes an important milestone in the Italian transition, although there still remains a fundamental obstacle in the way of the so-called 'normalisation' of politics in the coming period. (Parliamentary Affairs / FUB)