2004 was a year that threw into sharp relief the principal features of the present political conjuncture, that is, one in which the Italian political transition shows few signs of coming to a conclusion. 2004 was, therefore, a year of limited change, one in which reforms were announced but not fully achieved and where the few that were achieved were noteworthy for the compromises that were necessary in order to make them possible at all. It was, too, a year in which there emerged a stalemate between the center-right and center-left coalitions which, pending the regional elections of 2005 and the general election of 2006, took almost equal shares of the vote at the elections for the European Parliament. This volume examines these elections, paying special attention to Forza Italia, the prime minister's party, and the workings of the governing alliance and gives a well-rounded overview over the year's most important developments regarding the government's approach to the European constitution, the new judicial system, and the pensions legislation - the only major reform actually completed during 2004.

Judicial intervention in politics ('judicialization') has increased dramatically in Europe in recent decades, mirroring earlier trends in the United States. This book examines the growing power of judges in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the United States, and argues that three elements affect the political significance of judicial decisions: the status of judges, the organisation of the judicial system, and the broader political system. Currently very topical, particularly in Britain in the wake of the Human Rights Act, this subject will be of enduring interest for the foreseeable future.