Italy: Politics and policy, Vol.2

Abstract:

The disappearance of the large parties from the political arena in Italy were a distinctive feature of the 1994 national parliamentary elections. This is the opening contribution of the eleven chapters which document the changes in the Italian political system and policy making process since 1992. Chapter two gives an insight into the 1996 victory of the Ulivo and its defeat in 2001. The collapse of communism and the death of the Italian Communist Party are the subject of chapter three. The subsequent splintering of the parties of the left during the period 1996-2001 are covered in chapter four. Taxation and local government financing are examined in chapter five which also ranges over the centralisation and decentralisation policies of the 1990s. Chapter six addresses the politics of higher education during the period 1992-1997 when the Republic embarked upon a major reform of higher education. Chapter seven explores the impact of Europeanisation (EU influence) on public policies and this is done by a close study of the Common Fisheries Policy. That leads on to discussion of environmental policies in chapter eight. Within and without, Italy and Europe forms the core of chapter nine which explores the stresses and strains between domestic and European policies and seeks to identify the dynamics of change or indeed the inertia of 'nothing has changed'. Chapter ten studies the role of independent regulatory bodies in Italy. After years of resistance to such regimes there has been a recent acceleration and questions arise as to their democratic accountability and the safeguards against their decisions. The closing chapter eleven looks at state subsidies to firms and the highly complex forms that state assistance might take.

The work will interest scholars, students, and researchers of Italian, European and comparative politics and policy making.

Robert Leonardi is Director of the Economic and Social Cohesion Laboratory of the European Institute, London School of Economics.

Marcello Fedele is Professor of Sociology of Administration at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza'.