"A country that seems to lean into the void but never really falls
into it may actually be firmly anchored there, like the Tower of
Pisa." -Joseph LaPalombara The Italian republic, at forty, is alive
and well. Some consider this fact a miracle; many more judge it a
paradox. Italy is the country of permanent crisis, where there have
been forty-five national governments in forty years. Tax evasion is
a way of life, one adult in three votes "communist," the citizens
have no kind word to spare for their political leaders and
instructions, and the state itself is simultaneously in conflict
with the Vatican and at war with the Mafia and political
terrorists. How could a democracy take root, to say nothing of grow
robust, in such an improbable setting? In Democracy, Italian Style,
the foremost expert on the Italian political system unravels this
puzzle and, in the process, suggests that the only real paradox is
the failure of so many observers, including Italians themselves, to
recognize that what may be pathological for democracy in one
climate may actually work in democracy's favor in Italy. Writes
Joseph LaPalombara: --Although Italy seems rent by conflict, the
leftists, laical, and Catholic political enclaves that contribute
to these clashes also serve to keep them within bounds. Terrorism
itself, far from weakening Italian democracy, has actually
strengthened the people's democratic backbone. --Italy's
much-maligned political leaders have few peers among democracies,
in part because few others have been as severely tested. --Much of
Italian politics turns out to be "spettacolo" and rich in nuance.
Elections, the legislative process, contacts with public officials,
tax evasion, and political patronage do not mean in Italy what they
may mean elsewhere. --More than other democracies, Italy is heavily
dominated by its political parties, and many deplore this
condition. But, far from being the bane of Italian democracy, the
parties are its saving grace. For this reason, demands for radical
reform of the present system should be resisted. Challenging the
still-dominant picture of Italy, LaPalombara asserts that in a
relatively short span, the Italians have managed to forge a
remarkable democracy, one that reveals degrees of toleration,
freedom, and sheer political inventiveness others should find
enviable. "A wonderful book. It opens an unusual window onto
Italian politics, for one thing, but it is also a remarkably
sensitive an intelligent introduction to Italian society in
general." -Kai Erikson
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