Understanding Italy's Prime Minister

What Silvio Berlusconi represents in Italian politics

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has never been known for his subtlety. Facing trials for bribery and tax evasion, Berlusconi and his People of Freedom party recently attempted to pass a law granting judicial immunity to the four highest officials of the state, including the prime minister himself. On Oct. 7, the Constitutional Court of Italy rejected the law and declared it in violation of a constitutional provision granting citizens “equality under the law.”
The decision underscored the extent to which politics in Italy has degenerated into a spectacle of Berlusconi’s legal battles. In televised remarks after the decision, Berlusconi dismissed the Court as a “political organ” and defended himself as the choice of most Italians. “Long live Italy, long live Berlusconi,” he declared.
But Berlusconi is neither Italy’s savior, as he often presents himself, nor the sole author of its problems, as his opposition frequently implies. He is better understood as both a reflection and occasional perpetuator of the problems and defects of Italian politics. Since his return to the helm in 2008, perhaps his greatest accomplishment is that he has managed to hold onto power. The public’s deference to Berlusconi, despite the litany of scandals associated with him, is based on his ability to take advantage of major structural problems in Italian politics and culture, such as strong public mistrust of the government, popular dissatisfaction with taxes, and the lack of organized opposition on the Left.
An Anti-Political Culture
Even after the unification of the Italian peninsula in the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy never developed a tremendously cohesive national political culture. This lack of affinity for politics was crucial to Berlusconi’s rise when he entered politics in the early 1990s, and remains important today. As a wealthy entrepreneur and media tycoon, Berlusconi was able to present himself as an outsider at a time when the government in Rome was particularly unpopular.
When he entered the political fray in 1994 as the leader of a center-right coalition, the electorate saw Berlusconi as a bearer of change who could shake up the corrupt political system because of his different background. He was not a “politician by profession,” unlike his opponents. He spoke of reform and opening a new chapter in Italian politics. “The old Italian political class has been surpassed by facts and overwhelmed by events,” Berlusconi declared. “Now more than ever Italy needs … creativity and innovation. What I want to offer is a force made by completely new men.” His victory in the 1994 elections showed that his anti-government rhetoric had connected with many Italians.
Berlusconi has incarnated Italians’ perennial distrust of the centralized government and state authority in general. Gianfranco Pasquino, political science professor at the University of Bologna, told the HPR, “Italian society has a very strong anti-political spirit, on which Berlusconi relies greatly. What we feel attached to is only family, not any other part of the community in which we live.” According to a recent poll conducted by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, 70 percent of Italians “completely distrust” the operations of the parliament and government.
Although Berlusconi is now Italy’s longest-serving prime minister, having served earlier terms from 1994 to 1995 and 2001 to 2006, supporters still see him as battling entrenched political insiders, leftist judges who rule from what he calls “red courts,” and “red-toga-wearing” prosecutors. When Berlusconi returned to power in 2008, he also denounced the ruling “bureaucratic elite,” and gained popular approval that shielded him from allegations that he was tailoring laws to his private advantage.
Lax on Taxes
Stemming in part from this characteristic mistrust of the Italian government is popular hatred of taxation, which Berlusconi has exploited to build support. While few nations may enjoy paying taxes, in Italy a common joke is that tax evasion is the national sport. Berlusconi incorporated low taxes and low penalties for evasion into his campaigns, saying that he would never “put his hands in the pockets of Italians.”
Antonio Mingardi, director of the Italian think tank Bruno Leoni, told the HPR that with Berlusconi’s entrance into politics, “taxation was a central issue in an electoral campaign for the first time.” Berlusconi has garnered votes in elections, Pasquino argued, “mainly because of tax benefits.” Berlusconi’s relatively soft stance on dodging taxes may have helped him in recent elections, especially after the opposition attempted to crack down on the underground economy. Tax evasion is more common in Italy than in any other European country, with the untaxed economy accounting for about 27 percent of GDP. The Italian research institute Eurispes estimates that the shadow economy is equal to the combined GDPs of Finland, Portugal, Romania, and Hungary.
Berlusconi’s center-left predecessor, Romano Prodi, found it difficult to rope in this hidden economy in part because Berlusconi had previously granted “tax amnesties,” which encouraged taxpayers to believe that they could cheat with impunity. Berlusconi also failed to cut spending, leading to large deficits. Alberto Alesina, professor of economics at Harvard, told the HPR, “Especially in a country with huge public debt like Italy, reducing public expenditure is vital in order to reduce taxes. And actually, during Berlusconi’s previous rule, public expenditures rose a lot.”
A Lack of Substantive Opposition
More than anything else, however, Berlusconi and his center-right coalition has survived because of the lack of organized opposition on the Left. Among the defects of Italian politics, Pasquino argued, is a dearth of competitiveness. “The great incapacity of the Left to put its act together,” Pasquino said, has allowed Berlusconi to ignore substantive policy issues. “Whenever the opposition is weak or not well structured, he has in front of him open grassland on which he can do whatever he wants.” The Italian left wing has historically been highly fragmented among different parties and ideologies, including Communists, socialists, Christian Democrats, and left-libertarians.
The opposition, moreover, has centered its attack on Berlusconi’s personal life, rather than building a viable coalition based on political issues. As Mingardi explained, “There have been 15 years of para-political opposition to Berlusconi, concerning his legal problems, various sex scandals, and cronyism, but very little confrontation on the policy level. This type of opposition simply created a void of prospects on the Left.”
 
From Reformer to Defendant
Berlusconi is not personally responsible for all of these problems, but he has done little to embody his original image as a reformer. The embattled prime minister has also perpetuated a lack of faith in national institutions with his constant condemnations of the judicial system, his allegations of left-wing conspiracy, and his lax policy on taxes. His influence has weakened with the judicial defeat in October, but he remains a striking embodiment of many of Italy’s longstanding political problems.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Alessio85