Introduction: A Tale of Two Italies—Continuities and Change in the Italian Republic, 1994–2006

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Notes

Notes

[1]  In this introduction I have chosen not to surround references to the First Republic and Second Republic in quotation marks, even though the terms derive more from journalistic and academic convention than a constitutional distinction (as with the French Fourth and Fifth Republics). However, my use of the terms in this introduction is for the purpose of periodization, and other contributors to this special issue do well to remind the reader that the ordinal Republic remains an unsettled and contested notion in Italy.

[2]  ‘GM Leaves Fiat in the Dust’, BusinessWeek Online, 15 February 2005.

[3]  ‘Confindustria: Berlusconi contro tutti tra applausi e spaccature’, La Stampa Web, 19 March 2006.

[4]  Ibid.

[5]  ‘Addio, Dolce Vita’, The Economist, 26 November 2005.

[6]  Ibid.

[7]  ‘Iraq War “Grave Error” ’, New York Times, May 19 2006. ‘Italy's Course Veers From U.S.’, Washington Post, 19 May 2006.

[8]  ‘Fenice, chieste pene fino a 4 anni. 9 mesi per Cacciari’, Il Resto del Carlino, 29 January 2001. ‘Riccardo Muti si è dimesso’, Il Corriere della Sera, 3 April 2005.

[9]  ‘Opera downsizes as Italy's divas go on hunger strike’, Guardian Unlimited, 14 November 2005.

[10]  A notable exception being the special issue on ‘Italy in the digital era: Mapping the new media system’, edited by David Forgacs and Stefano Magistretti in Modern Italy, vol. 6. no. 2, 2001.

[11]  According to Interbrand, Prada was ranked as the 51st global brand in 2003, Gucci was ranked 48th and Dolce & Gabbana 50th in 2004, while in 2005 Gucci was the highest placed fashion label in 57th place. Source: www.brandchannel.com.

[12]  ‘L’Italia è sulla lama di un coltella’. Il voto secondo la stampa estera, La Repubblica, 11 April 2006.

[13]  See also John Agnew's article in this issue for a pertinent discussion of the concept of ‘normality’ in terms of political culture and practice.

[14]  ‘Addio, Dolce Vita’, The Economist, 26 November 2005.

[15]  ‘Survey: Cosa Nostra, continued: The Mafia is trying to regain its influence of old’, The Economist, July 7 2001.

[16]  The two banks in question were also the targets of takeover interest by Banca Popolare Italiana and the insurance firm Unipol, which has strong roots in the socialist cooperative movement. ‘Prodi's Unhappy New Year’, The Economist, 7 January 2006.

[17]  Financial Times, 10 December 2004.

[18]  ‘New Parmalat chief makes legal move to recover missing billions’, The Financial Times, 31 December 2003.

[19]  The total debt was calculated at [euro]14 billion.

[20]  ‘Spectre of Parmalat weighs heavy in Europe’, The Financial Times, 23 December 2003.

[21]  For example, Piero Fassino, Secretary of the DS, argued in favour of a determined and measured move to the creation of a new Partito Democratico by 2009 in order to consolidate bipolarism and alternation in government and to avoid a slide back into the trap of proportionalism. ‘Fassino: “Prodi faccia il leader fino in fondo”’, Unità Online, 30 July 2006. http://www.cittadiniperlulivo.com/wmview.php?ArtID=2412. The Casa delle Libertà's electoral manifesto did not actually mention bipolarism, alternation or democracy. The only hint at an acknowledgement of the changed reality of the Italian party system in La Vera Storia Italiana (the glossy magazine that was sent to every household on behalf of the campaign for the election of ‘Berlusconi Presidente’ was a reference to the new electoral law and the need for any coalition to achieve at least 10 per cent of the national vote. The rest of the short article lambasted the previous electoral law for giving the Ulivo more parliamentary seats in 1996 despite the centre-right achieving more votes (in the proportional ballot) (Movimento Politico Forza Italia 2006, p. 137).