ABSTRACT
Since 1992-3 the Italian political system has been undergoing a political and institutional transition. More precisely, the Italian transition, which has so far not affected the democratic framework but the performance and the quality of its democracy, is characterised by two fundamental phenomena. The first phenomenon concerns the rules of the game, that is, the mechanisms through which political power is won, allocated and distributed and the overall institutional structure of the political system. The second phenomenon is represented by incessant and significant changes in the party system concerning the type of parties and their coalitional arrangements. In the meantime, there have been a couple of significant rotations in office between the two major coalitions, though curiously without any change in their leaders, and several governments have followed each other. Attempts have been made to reform the institutions and even the constitution. To no avail. As of 2007, there appears to be no solution in sight.
