The Fight against the Italian Mafia

Cosa Nostra, the 'Ndrangheta, and the Camorra have their headquarters in Italy. In the past 30 years, Italian policies against the Mafia have developed steadily and are now deemed a best practice all over the world. The most relevant anti-Mafia legislation was adopted as a result of homicides and attacks of criminal organizations against the state. However, in the past years, anti-mafia measures have no longer been reactions to such events. The trend is toward creating a system of anti-Mafia instruments and defining it as a distinctive subsector of security policies. This essay discusses the measures taken (those that directly address and repress criminals and their organizations, and then those that instead address the citizenry, entrepreneurs, professionals, public administration, and, only indirectly, the Mafia itself), presents the institutions involved in the fight against the Mafia, and, finally, sketches an assessment of the overall efficacy of Italian anti-mafia policies.