Uncertainty about the future of the government and strong
anti-political sentiment dominated Italian politics in 2007.
Following a government crisis in February, rooted in the question
of Italy's role in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Romano Prodi was
able to re-establish his coalition, but in the spring it suffered a
clear setback in local elections amidst a climate of growing
unpopularity. Initial chapters in this volume analyse these events
as well as some important initiatives aimed, in different ways, at
containing public disaffection towards the political class: the
establishment of the Democratic Party, the electoral referendum
campaign, and Silvio Berlusconi's announcement of the birth of a
new, center-right political party. As demonstrated in following
chapters, the government did still manage to achieve a degree of
success during the year in combating tax evasion and reducing the
budget deficit as a result of increased tax revenue and more
effective control of public expenditure. A number of redistributive
goals were achieved in this way, as the volume's examination of
government social policy makes clear. Final chapters complete the
picture of the state of Italian society in a year characterized by
a fragile government facing a number challenging issues subject to
veto: the liberalization program and the uncompleted introduction
of fiscal federalism, the ever-challenging management of the
national health system, the role of the Bank of Italy, the
relationship with the Catholic Church and the legislation on de
facto couples, crime and security.
Mark Donovan teaches Politics in the School of European Studies,
Cardiff University where he has specialized in the study of Italian
politics. His most recent publication is a co-edited special issue
of Modern Italy (November 2008) on "The Centre in Italian
Politics."
Paolo Onofri teaches Economics at the University of Bologna.
His most recent publications with Il Mulino include: I mercati
finanziari internazionali. Nino Andreatta e la politica economica
(2006).
General
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