ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the impact on the budgetary process of the peculiar form of crisis faced by Italy. It reviews the reforms after the onset of the crisis focusing on the initiatives of the Berlusconi, Monti and Renzi governments. The chapter discusses the use of spending reviews, which began well before the 2008 crisis and have continued afterward. It also discusses the stage for the post-crisis developments by briefly describing budgetary reforms in the period leading to the crisis. The chapter highlights the thrust towards a more top-down approach to budgetary decision-making. It also reviews budgetary reforms in Italy which occurred under conditions of severe fiscal crisis and political turmoil, within the historical-political context of the Eurozone crisis, which stemmed from the financial and economic crises triggered by the 2008-09 bank bankruptcies. The chapter dsecribes that the intertwining of the political crisis with the fiscal crisis prevented the response to the latter from unfolding into different phases.
