The work of Paul Ginsborg

This paper introduces a panel discussion of the work of Paul Ginsborg on contemporary Italian politics and society. A brief introduction to the studies under discussion is followed by comments from Judith Chubb, Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Charles S. Maier that focus, respectively, on: the broader problems of the development of civil society and the rule of law in Southern Italy; popular culture, culture and civil society; and the role of politics in shaping contemporary Italy.     

Italy 1990–2014: the transition that never happened

This introduction explains how the contributors to this special issue draw on interdisciplinary approaches to explain why after 1992–94 Italy never experienced a true transition and why the crisis has become systemic, affecting the entire Italian political, economic, financial and institutional system with far-reaching consequences for Italian society and its future.     

Italy's political system since 1989

This essay follows the development of the Italian political system over the last twenty-five years, starting from the collapse of the principal political parties that had previously dominated the history of the Republic. In institutional terms, it seems legitimate to describe this as a transition, since the outcomes of initiatives to reform the electoral system, to abolish the previous system of ‘perfect bicameralism’, and reshape relations between the State and the regions are still unknown. But I argue that many fundamental changes in the relationship between the country and its political system were already evident in the 1980s.     

From Alpine clubs to Baggio and Berlusconi: Italy reflected through sport

Abstract

This article attempts to convey something of the importance of sport in Italy by tracing a brief outline of its development in parallel with the modern Italian state. It then looks at Patrick McCarthy's vision of Italian sport to see how this fits with the latest developments in this turbulent world. It suggests that the fortunes of Italian sport will be somewhat dependent on the wider economic and political system, where the past and present record is not encouraging. Much bolder reform is needed if the trends of bleeding sport dry through commercial exploitation and the erosion of local loyalties are to be reversed. But even if there is not further reform, sport will use its powers of resistance to survive. Much of the article focuses primarily on soccer, both because it is the country's most popular sport and because it has led trends affecting other major sports including cycling and motor racing.     

Wheeler dealers: Silvio Berlusconi in comparative perspective

Abstract

Silvio Berlusconi is uniquely successful as a political entrepreneur, but that does not mean he is unique. Others have trod that path as well, albeit with lesser success. This paper looks at why others have failed where Berlusconi succeeded in order better to understand the secrets of that success. The conclusion is that Berlusconi needed to progress on many fronts at the same time – opportunistic, financial, institutional, ideological and personal. Hence even if Berlusconi has not made the most of his opportunities, what is remarkable is that he illustrates the possibility of bringing the whole constellation of factors together. Others may not have followed in his footsteps yet, but that does not mean they will not be able to do so in the future.     

The second Prodi government and Italian foreign policy: New and improved or the same wrapped up differently?

This article examines whether Italian foreign policy has undergone significant and substantial changes under the second Prodi government. The first part identifies the variables affecting continuity and change in a country's foreign policy and addresses the question of the conditions under which one can expect changes as a result of a change in government, and the conditions under which continuity is instead more likely. The second part looks at the second Prodi government's foreign policy on a number of topical issues, most of which were also faced by the Berlusconi government, to see to what extent the Prodi government's approach to foreign policy indeed changed from that of its predecessor. The article concludes that the Prodi government did not change Italian foreign policy in any substantial manner; differences existed only in the way the new government occasionally chose to present and justify its policies publicly.     

Ruinismo: the Catholic Church in Italy from ‘mediation culture’ to the Cultural Project

It is only seven years since Monsignor Camillo Ruini resigned from his role as President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), yet it feels much longer. The tempestuous events that marked Silvio Berlusconi's decline, on one hand, and the election of Pope Francis to the Holy See, on the other, have made such an impression on recent Italian history that seems to leave no time for reflection on what has happened over the last twenty years. This article explores how, during this time, Cardinal Ruini has re-fashioned the relations between the Catholic Church and Italian politics, following a pattern that has come to be known as ‘ruinismo’. The essay follows the development of the theological-political line of the Conference, from the “mediation” of the “Catholic Party”, the Christian Democrats (DC), to the “policy of presence” of politically committed Catholics, defined in these terms by the ecclesiastical congress in Loreto in 1985 and fully carried out under Ruini's management, with the backing of Berlusconi's governments. The aim is to establish whether and to what extent the “Ruinian” rule may be regarded as the consequence of mainstream Catholic politics of the 1980s and, equally, as a response to the cultural and political transformation brought about by the upheavals of the corruption scandals of 1989–91. Only from this long-term perspective is it possible to determine whether Ruini's exit has brought an end to ruinismo.     

Between myth and reality: the euro crisis and the downfall of Silvio Berlusconi

In mid-November 2011, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi tendered his formal resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano. It was a humiliating ‘political exit’ for the controversial Italian leader who had been the dominant figure in Italian politics since the mid-1990s. With Italy in the throes of an unprecedented financial crisis, Berlusconi’s squabbling centre-right coalition had appeared increasingly incapable of dealing with the economic emergency engulfing the country. To restore credibility, Napolitano appointed Mario Monti who quickly put together an emergency government. Since then, the downfall of Italy’s longest-serving post-war prime minister has generated a good deal of controversy. Allegations that Berlusconi was pushed out of power by a cabal of domestic and international detractors have been rife both inside and outside Italy. But how plausible are these claims? Was Berlusconi brought down by a conspiracy orchestrated by Napolitano and instigated by Italy’s EU partners? This article will address these questions and, to do so, it will chart the dramatic events that led to his downfall and examine the international and domestic contexts in which these events took place.     

25 April 1994 – 17 March 2011: symbolic dates of the past and Italy's transition

The twenty-year political period on which this paper focuses opened and closed with two highly symbolic commemorations. On 25 April 1994, just a few weeks after the electoral victory of the political alliance led by Silvio Berlusiconi (Pole of Liberty), more than 500,000 people took to the streets to commemorate the anti-Fascist foundations of the post-war Italian Republic: this was a timely reaction that ran counter to the climate of disaffection that since the 1980s had marked the annual celebrations of the Liberation. The second commemoration was on the night of 11 March 2011, when thousands of citizens took part in the ‘All Night Tricolor’ parties that marked the start of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification. The scale of popular participation was in part a response to President Ciampi's commitment to re-launching a sense of ‘civil religion’, to the variety of ways in which the event was turned into a spectacle and the work of the organizing committee. But it also reflected the ways in which the significance of the commemoration of the distant founding of the Kingdom of Italy was considered to be ‘above’ (even ‘anti’) party politics. Both commemorations were rooted deeply in Italian history but took place in very different institutional circumstances: this essays compares the two commemorations and how they illustrate the changing political cultures in the time of the Italian transition.