ABSTRACT
Even in Italy, where for a long time most scholars thought that elections were a meaningless game, votes may have a powerful impact. In spite of their social entrenchment and high membership, and perhaps because of their exaggerated political power, Italian parties have always been widely criticized from both the right and the left. From many points of view, the Italian constitution had designed a form of government akin to that of France's Fourth Republic: a weak coalition government, a relatively powerful bicameral parliament, a multiparty system reproduced and fragmented by an electoral proportional system. The problem with the Christian Democrats was that they were, and are, a factionalized party made up of groups willing and able to bring down most governments. Since parties dominate Italian institutions and are unable and/or unwilling to reform them, they quickly bore the brunt of the informed public's relevant dissatisfaction.
