The political history of Italy has been an undeniably turbulent one. The country's political system has been repeatedly threatened by the existence of extremist parties of the left and right, a backward economy, the cleavage between a developed north and an underdeveloped south, the challenge posed by terrorist groups and organized crime, a level of public debt that is one of the highest in the world, a constant wave of immigrants entering the country from across the Mediterranean, and governments that last on average only ten months. Paradoxically however, the country continues to muddle through from one political crisis to another with one of the world's highest standards of living and quality of life. What is the secret of Italian politics?
This new introduction by a leading expert covers the last seventy years in the evolution of Italy's political, economic and social systems to explain this Italian paradox within the context of broader European developments.
