This article explains the features and the functioning of the Italian electoral system introduced at the national level with the electoral reform of 1993. Using data from the 1994, 1996 and 2001 elections it looks at the impact the new rules have had on the party systems, on parties, on parliament and on government formation. One of its main results is the explanation of the fact that the introduction of a predominantly majoritarian system has not reduced party fragmentation, as it could have been expected, but it has anyhow produced a bipolar pattern of competition