Italy: A Fragmented Government

Abstract

Writing about the central political institutions of a country during a period of deep crisis and transformation, as has been the case in Italy since 1992, is both easy and difficult. It is easy because the end of a period and the crisis of past patterns of political behaviour make it possible to better understand not only the operation of the formal rules but also the informal practices on which these patterns were based. One can also reach a more balanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of institutions which lasted for over forty years but did eventually collapse (Cotta and Isernia, 1996). It is obviously more difficult to determine whether the new features of the governing institutions which emerged during the crisis years are transitional or not. It is even more difficult to forecast accurately the final outcomes of the changes which are under way. This chapter will therefore focus mainly on the long-term features of the governing institutions during the relatively long period of stability spanning the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s, while adding some information about the changes that have taken place since then and some discussion of possible future developments.