L’Italia tra due “sistemi politici”

Abstract

The institutional and political transition of the early ’90s, commonly termed “the end of the First Republic”, imposed a radical change in political cleavages underlying the Italian party system. The affirmation of a bipolar and majoritarian electoral process, despite its imperfection, characterized the so-called “Second Republic” up to the most recent electoral crisis in 2013. In this article, the changes in political and ideological cleavages accompanying the shifts in the Italian party system between the late ’80s and the early ’90s are discussed in order to understand the reasons for the current difficulties in the institutional reform process. Such changes are also discussed by taking into account European politics as an “external constraint” for the Italian political system.