The Five Faces of Silvio Berlusconi: The Knight of Anti-politics

Abstract

Between 1994 and 2006 Berlusconi has been the dominant figure of Italian politics. Following his electoral defeat in the April 2006 elections, it is possible to begin an initial evaluation of the many roles he has played as well as to assess his overall accomplishments in politics. This article focuses on five roles—party builder, coalition maker, institution builder, Prime Minister, and opinion leader. The article briefly explores Berlusconi's achievements and inadequacies and attempts to explain the reasons for his failures. Because Berlusconi has been unable fundamentally to institutionalize his politics and to reform Italian institutions, the article comes to the conclusion that his legacy will be of limited duration. All this notwithstanding, Berlusconi's political trajectory may not yet have reached its conclusion.

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge Donatella Campus’ many useful and intelligent suggestions which have allowed me to improve considerably my approach and treatment of such a complex topic as Berlusconi's diverse political roles. An advanced draft of this article was written in the period between January and May 2006 when I was Affiliated Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution of Washington, D.C.

Notes

Notes

[1]  The best succinct, though definitely not sympathetic, analysis of Berlusconi's ascent to political power has been written by Ginsborg (2003, 2004). However, Ginsborg seems to have overestimated the role of television and, curiously, in light of his subsequent participation in the activities of Italian ‘civil society’ in opposition to Berlusconi's government, to have underestimated the existence and importance of social and cultural networks.

[2]  Lanza and Piazza (2002) analyse the situation as shaped through three national elections. My educated guess is that not much has taken place and little change has been produced by the 2006 elections. For further analysis see the articles by John Agnew and Paolo Bellucci in this issue.

[3]  For the 1994 events see the chapters in Gundle and Parker (1996). For the 2001 events, see the chapters in Newell (2002).

[4]  Much to his disappointment, Berlusconi was prevented by the UDC from reaching the highly coveted outcome of becoming the only Italian Prime Minister to have successfully completed a full parliamentary term in office.

[5]  On institutionalization, see Panebianco (1982, p. 271 and ff.). For a thought-provoking comparison between the role played by De Gaulle in the French transition and by Berlusconi in the on-going Italian one, see Campus (2006).

[6]  For an assessment of Berlusconi's role in the Bicameral Commission on Institutional Reforms, see Pasquino (1998).

[7]  The most outspoken critic of partisan and poorly framed reforms is Giovanni Sartori. See his most recent book (Sartori 2006).

[8]  On Berlusconi's governmental activities and performance, there are some interesting, though not exhaustive, studies: Cotta (2002); Tuccari (2002); Cotta and Verzichelli (2003); Ricolfi (2006).

[9]  It is no surprise therefore that Berlusconi's successor, Romano Prodi, announced that the Messina Straights bridge project would be cancelled on grounds of cost.

[10]  See James Walston's article in this issue for further analysis of Berlusconi's foreign policy.

[11]  Though I do not fully share his perspective, Tarchi (2003) offers an interesting overall view of populist tendencies in Italian politics and society.