ABSTRACT
On a pizzino—a slip of paper passed between Mafiosi to communicate with each other, minimizing the risk of the message being intercepted—from Sicilian godfather Bernardo Provenzano, the Mafia’s ambivalent attitude toward politicians emerges clearly:
Now you’re telling me that you have a high-level Political contact, which would allow us to run many large jobs, and you want to know what I think before going ahead with it: But not knowing him, I don’t know what I can tell you. We’d need to know their names and what their arrangement is. Because the way things are just now you can’t trust anyone. They could be fraudsters, they could be cops, they could be infiltrators, and they could be novices and they could be very calculating, but if somebody doesn’t know which path to take he can’t walk, so I can’t tell you anything. (TPMA) 1
The allure of the “many large jobs” to be obtained thanks to contacts with politicians is counterbalanced by the lack of confidence in their trustworthiness because of their professional persuasion in responding to multiple interests, and spending their words freely. This caution also lies at the root of the difficulties experienced by politicians seeking to enter Mafia organizations. “It’s difficult,” comments the Mafia informant Antonino Calderone, “for a politician to become a ‘man of honor’. Cosa Nostra is very cautious towards them because they’re disloyal and don’t keep their promises, always trying to be ‘wise guys’. They’re people who break their words and have no principles” (Arlacchi 1992: 208–9). Another informant, Tommaso Buscetta, confirms: “I’ve never been attracted by politics and I’ve never liked politicians: due to their opportunism, their inability to keep their word and their flippancy in the principles they claim to stick to. To a ‘made man’ such as myself [...] they seemed untrustworthy and third-rate” (Arlacchi 1994: 101). Besides, it is clear that the qualities required for the role of arbitrator in private controversies, a blend of authoritativeness in mediation and willingness to resort to bullying and violence that characterizes successful Mafiosi, differ from those important in facilitating the career of a politician, who works in the public eye and is obliged to compromise, make pretences, and walk the political tightrope. Politicians’ lack of reliability and trustworthiness in fulfilling promises made in the electoral market and their unscrupulous behavior in generating (and sometimes manipulating) the trust of the electorate and political partners only serves to feed the contempt of Mafiosi. For Mafiosi, getting involved with politicians without the assurance of a preliminary meeting or information encouraging the formation of a faithful bond seems a gamble. As Woody Allen has joked: “Politicians have their own ethics. All of them. And it’s a notch below that of a sex maniac”; and also below that of Mafiosi, we could add.