El berlusconismo

This essay aims at explaining Berlusconi-ism, which it consid- ers an Italian manifestation of both the neoliberal turn of the 1980s and the post-democratic crisis of the late 20th and early 21st century. In the first section, the causes of Berlusconi’s success are examined. The short-term one was the «judicial revolution» of 1992-1993 that led to the dissolution of the governing parties, depriving millions of anti-communist voters of their traditional representatives. There were as well causes rooted in long-term phenomena. Berlusconi overturned an Italian tradition according to which the «legal country» is more ad- vanced than the «real country». He proposed to roll back the state, lower the level of political strife, simplify the political language, and replace professional politicians with entrepreneurs and professionals. The second section analyses the evolution of Berlusconi-ism over time: the ideological shift from liberalism to conservatism; its inability to cre- ate a party that could live independently of its leader; the shortcomings of Berlusconi-ism as a governing force; the relevance of the 2005-2006 watershed. The epilogue considers why Italy has been unable to solve the crisis of politics that has opened up in the early 1990s, and places the most recent political events within that crisis.