ABSTRACT
Silvio Berlusconi's government began with a dramatic victory in the elections to the European parliament held at the beginning of June 1994. The "burden" of forming a new government was given to the treasury minister in the outgoing Berlusconi administration, Lamberto Dini, a former senior official from the Bank of Italy. Deputies from the Alleanza Nazionale (AN) and Forza Italia show no sign of recognizing that Umberto Bossi, in a representative democracy, had the right to withdraw the support of his party's parliamentary contingent from Berlusconi's government. Round one had gone to Berlusconi, but the arrogance with which Forza Italia was challenging the judiciary seemingly brought to the boil Bossi's doubts. At least one aspect of Italy's political revolution, however, will be unaffected by Berlusconi's political survival or demise. The crucial point to grasp about the huge changes that Italy has undergone since the election of April 1992 is that the ideological dimension has been restored to politics.
