The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics provides a comprehensive look at the political life of one of Europe's most exciting and turbulent democracies.

Under the hegemonic influence of Christian Democracy in the early post-World War II decades, Italy went through a period of rapid growth and political transformation. In part this resulted in tumult and a crisis of governability; however, it also gave rise to innovation in the form of Eurocommunism and new forms of political accommodation. The great strength of Italy lay in its constitution; its great weakness lay in certain legacies of the past. Organized crime--popularly but not exclusively associated with the mafia--is one example. A self-contained and well entrenched 'caste' of political and economic elites is another. These weaknesses became apparent in the breakdown of political order in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This ushered in a combination of populist political mobilization and experimentation with electoral systems design, and the result has been more evolutionary than transformative. Italian politics today is different from what it was during the immediate post-World War II period, but it still shows many of the influences of the past.

Erik Jones is Professor of European Studies and Director of European and Eurasian Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College in Oxford, United Kingdom.

Gianfranco Pasquino is the James Anderson Senior Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University, and was Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna until 2012. He was a member of the Italian Senate (1983-1992: 1994-1996); has served as a parliamentary observer for the plebiscite (1988) and presidential elections (1989) in Chile; was awarded the laurea honoris causa from the Catholic University of Cordoba, University of Buenos Aires and University de La Plata; and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Enciclopedia Italiana, President of the Societa Italiana di Scienza Politica and a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Preface
I. Core Concepts
1. La Classe Dirigente, James L. Newell
2. The Risorgimento, Anthony L. Cardoza
3. Trasformismo, Marco Valbruzzi
4. Partitocracy: Parties and Their Critics in Italian Political Life, Maurizio Cotta
5. A Tale of Two Italies? The 'Southern Question' Past and Present, John A. Davis
II. Political Institutions
6. The Constitution, Giuliano Amato
7. The Presidents of the Republic, Gianfranco Pasquino
8. Government and Prime Minister, Mauro Calise
9. The Parliament, Salvatore Vassallo
10. The Courts, Carlo Guarnieri
11. Electoral Systems, Marta Regalia
12. Party Systems in Post-World War II Italy, Carol Mershon
13. Bureaucracy, Simona Piattoni
III. Political Traditions
14. Christian Democracy: The Italian Party, Gianfranco Baldini
15. Communists, Paolo Bellucci
16. Socialists, Republicans, and Radicals, Nicolo Conti
17. Fascists and Post-fascists, Piero Ignazi
18. Populism and the Lega Nord, Gianluca Passarelli
19. Liberalism and Liberals, Giovanni Orsina
IV. Political Periods
20. Christian Democracy in Power, 1946-1963, Paolo Pombeni
21. The 'Opening to the Left', Ilaria Favretto
22. The Compromesso Storico, Stephen Hellman
23. The Pentapartito, Martin J. Bull
24. Tangentopoli - More than Twenty Years on, Martin Rhodes
25. Bipolarity (and After), Jonathan Hopkin
V. Major Figures
26. Alcide De Gasperi and Palmiro Togliati, Aldo Agosti
27. Gianni Agnelli and Enrico Mattei, Valerio Castronovo
28. Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer, Emanuele Bernardi
29. Bettino Craxi and Giulio Andreotti, Antonio Varsori
30. Silvio Berlusconi and Romano Prodi, Mark Donovan and Mark Gilbert
VI. Religion and Politics
31. The Catholic Hierarchy, Alberto Melloni
32. The Catholic Right, Paolo Acanfora
33. Religious Differentiation and New Religions in Italy, Roberto Cipriani and Veronica Roldan
34. The Laity, Massimo Teodori
VII. Economic Institutions, Associations, and Interests
35. Trends and Tensions within the Italian Family, Chiara Saraceno
36. Industry and the Firm, Giuseppe Berta
37. The Labour Market, Patrick Vesan
38. The Welfare State: Pensions and Health Care, Maurizio Ferrera and Matteo Jessoula
39. The Bank of Italy, Lucia Quaglia
40. Trade Unions, Marino Regini
41. Liberal and Licensed Professions, Carlo Carboni
42. The Cooperative Movement, Vera Zamagni
VIII. Politics, Culture, and Society
43. Cinema and Television, Stephen Gundle
44. Print Media, Paolo Mancini
45. Intellectuals, Nadia Urbinati
46. Public Ethics and Political Corruption in Italy, David Hine
47. Women in Politics, Donatella Campus
48. Immigration, Giuseppe Sciortino
49. Social Movements, Donatella della Porta
50. Terrorist Movements, Anna Cento Bull
51. Mafia, Camorra and 'Ndrangheta, Letizia Paoli
IX. External Relations
52. Italy and the Atlantic Alliance, Mario Del Pero
53. Gli Esami Non Finiscono Mai : Italy and the European Union, Vincent Della Sala
54. Italy and the Mediterranean after WWII, Roberto Aliboni