Italian politics for dummies

Italian politics for dummies

For those of us coming from countries with a two-party (maybe 2 ½ ) system, Italian politics seems a hopeless confusion. You can try diligently to learn all the names, principles, symbols, and faces of the endless parade of political parties, or you can aspire to a “quick and

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Wed 16 Nov 2005 11:00 PM

For those of us coming from countries with a two-party (maybe 2 ½ ) system, Italian politics seems a hopeless confusion. You can try diligently to learn all the names, principles, symbols, and faces of the endless parade of political parties, or you can aspire to a “quick and dirty” understanding that tells you enough to function as a foreigner in Italy.  Here it is.

 

Forget about learning the names of parties. There are two grand coalitions: the centre-right (CDL), led by Silvio Berlusconi and currently in the majority, and the centre-left (l’ Unione) led, at least for this week, by Romano Prodi.  You do need to learn these two faces.  Silvio is called the Cavaliere; Romano is called the Professor.  When Silvio talks about his opponents, he calls them all Communists even though the Communist party is only a small player in the centre-left coalition.  Romano is a little more polite with his vocabulary, but when centre-left folks get upset, they call the other side Fascist, even though the successor to the Fascist party is only one, and not the largest, party in Silvio’s coalition.  In fact, the guy who heads the neo-Fascist party seems to be the most leftist of those in the centre-right coalition.  Go figure!

 

On the news at night all the various party leaders get their mugs shown, but in a 30 minute broadcast, there is not enough time to let them all talk and talk and talk.  So we hear Silvio, Romano, and maybe one or two others (if you are ambitious, you can learn their names too) say a few words.  Then we see footage of each of the others yakking into a microphone, but we only hear the announcer’s summary of what they say.  You don’t have to pay attention to the guys (few women at the top of Italian politics) whose views are delivered second-hand.

 

There are two kinds of political battles amongst the parties. The first ones are between the centre-right and centre-left coalitions, which never agree on anything.  The result is that politics are paralysed, and little meaningful change takes place.  The second type of struggle is amongst the parties within each coalition, whose leaders don’t like the fact that they are playing second fiddle to the head of the coalition, who gets to speak in his own voice on the evening news.  The result of these fights is that the coalitions seem to be (but are not) in constant danger of immediate dissolution. 

 

When there is a situation that necessitates something be done, in which lack of action is totally unacceptable, there will be reports of a stalemate that is impossible to resolve.  A national crisis is imminent.  At the 11th hour (never sooner), a compromise will be forged that is inadequate to resolve the problem but which will delay the crisis until a later date.  Often the issue is government finances (too little income; too many expenses) because in Italy anyone who pays all his taxes voluntarily risks being committed to a mental institution.

 

For the centre-left, the next best thing to a day at the beach is a mass demonstration in the streets.  For the centre-right such rallies are equivalent to a soccer riot.

 

Many Italians are passionate about politics and can discuss the issues in a sophisticated, if endless, fashion.  It turns out, however, that few Italians think that the party they support can really achieve much good. Instead, the best that is hoped for is that their party will prevent the other parties from doing bad.  Italians see themselves as a nation of honest (forget about the paying taxes problem), decent folks ruled by dishonest politicians who are interested only in power and filling their own pockets. The maxim “People get the kind of politics they deserve” holds no validity in Italy.

 

As in other nations, the strength of the various parties differs in Italy by region.  Tuscany leans to the left, so be sure to make a bad face whenever Berlusconi’s name is mentioned.  It’s too much trouble to learn the political inclinations of other regions.  When not in Tuscany, stay totally neutral.

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