While Italian politics may appear on the surface to be evolving towards a Westminster model with right- and left-wing blocs alternating in power, this impression is belied by the often nervous and disconnected way in which events unfolded in 2005. In some respects, 2005 was a classic pre-electoral year, in which the pattern of 2000 repeated itself with the roles of government and opposition reversed: the center-left coalition scored a decisive victory in the regional elections in April, provoking a crisis that ended Silvio Berlusconi's second government, the longest-serving cabinet since the foundation of the Republic in 1948. Berlusconi was able to quickly form a new government, and went on to reform the electoral system in a way that would give him the maximum advantage in the 2006 general election, and to introduce a series of policy initiatives geared more to his own re-election than to real reform. However, while the center-right majority was able to hold together and the center-left was strengthened by its electoral victories and the astonishing success of the primaries held to choose Romano Prodi as its candidate for prime minister, conflict and divisions persisted within both coalitions, leaving the prospect of the development of a stable bipolar system in Italy still in doubt.

First published in 1981 The Italian Communist Party looks at the debate within the party and how its strategy was forged. It considers the development of Eurocommunism, the rise and fall of the Ingrao Left and many other topics related to the formulation of the PCI. Based on original research by the author, it explores how key issues were debated and resolved in various representative provincial organisations of the party. It shows how changing ideals affected policy and the party’s organisation and how different attitudes emerged from the diverse social and economic conditions in the different parts of Italy. This book is an important historical document for scholars and researchers of Italian communism, European communism and political studies.

The framework sketched in this new book explains the relationship between state and capital in Italy as well as some of the major directions in macroeconomic theory. These fields encompass both Italy's entry to EMU in 1999 and the impact of Silvio Berlusconi on Italian politics and economics.

Contents:
1. Introduction: Capital and the State 2. The Growth and Development of Italian Capitalism 3. Wealth and Power in Contemporary Italian Business 4. Italian Capitalism in Comparative Perspective 5. Italian Capital in the Global Economy 6. Business and the Political System 7. Making Italian Macroeconomic Policy 8. The Politics of Budgets and Public Debt 9. The State and Industrial Relations 10. Conclusion: The Limits of The State's Autonomy