Italian Politics The Center-left In Power

The year 1996 in Italian politics was a year rich in novelty. After the "stalled transition" of 1995, the political atmosphere had begun to change. Most obvious was the end of Dini's unelected government of technocrats, supported by a heterogeneous group in Parliament, and its replacement with Romano Prodi's government, a coalition of the parties that had won the general election on April 21, 1996. But an even more important change and one more likely to be remembered was a new climate of dialogue amongst the main political forces that emerged from this period of transition between two republics. In 1996, despite the general elections, cooperation again became part of the political game.

Introduction: A Year of Difficult Dialogue -- The General Elections of 21 April 1996 -- Forza Italia: Old Problems Linger On -- The Lega Nord: From Federalism to Secession -- The Italian Left After the 1996 Elections -- Majoritarian and Proportional Electoral Systems: The Sicilian Case -- The Government of the Ulivo -- The Majoritarian System, Act II: Parliament and Parliamentarians in 1996 -- The Scalfaro Presidency in 1996: The Difficult Return to Normality -- Politics and Consumption: The Four Revolutions of Spectator Football -- Italian Intervention in Bosnia and the (Slow) Redefinition of Defense Policy -- Statesman or Godfather? The Andreotti Trials -- The Italian Presidency of the European Union -- Documentary Appendix