ABSTRACT
The social forces, institutions and procedures which structure the field of industrial relations in Western Europe have undergone several episodes of profound change since the Second World War. These were initially attributable to the changing balance of forces between the state, employers and the trades unions, together with the strategies pursued by the actors. Without doubt the most important development in the Italian industrial relations system in the 1990s consisted in the replacement of a traditionally conflictual system, the outcomes of which were determined essentially by the respective balance of power between the two sides, to a form of institutionalisation which has demonstrated a powerful participative effect and which is characterised by adherence to a framework of binding rules for the conduct of negotiations. Despite all efforts at reform, industrial and social relations in France have not reached the degree of 'normality' which characterises most other Western European industrialised countries.
