ABSTRACT
At the Italian general elections of 2001, a left-wing government was voted out in favour of a right-wing coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi. This is a historic achievement—‘the Italian political system has experienced its first peaceful alternation ever since 1876’ (Pasquino 2004)—which will be compounded if Berlusconi succeeds in serving a full five-year term. However, Berlusconi’s business career, his attitude to opposition and his choice of allies have meant that his government is widely regarded as a threat to Italian democracy rather than a sign of its health. In what follows, I shall explore this contradiction by examining the background, the policies and the ideology of the second Berlusconi government, focusing on its populist and patrimonial tendencies. I shall set these in the context of a political and cultural transition that, after 12 years, remains incomplete.
