Second Republic was based on the hope that such institutional reform would
transpose the party system into something like the two-party or two-block
system found in, for example, France or the United Kingdom. In fact, the
changes in government stability, while undeniable, have not been that great,
while the list of parties represented is smaller, though not much smaller, than in
the past. Indeed, the two most notable changes, somewhat longer-lasting
governments and the fact that the parties form two electoral coalitions of
the centre-left and centre-right, have come about for other reasons. The first is
that the collapse of the DC and the PCI has allowed their replacement with
slightly more orthodox centrist parties of the left and right, although these new
parties are not highly disciplined. The more important fact may be the almost
complete decimation of the old–style party leaders, and indeed parliamentary
deputies, through their arrests and investigations for corruption. The politi-
cians of the Second Republic are to a very large extent either completely new
figures, or the few figures from the pre-1993 era able to demonstrate a clean
record. There is no doubt among observers that the necessary constitutional
and institutional reforms have not yet been extensive enough to produce
genuinely effective, responsive, and honest government in Italy. Unfortunately,
there are signs that both the public and the political classes are now tired of
change, and they would prefer to consolidate the reforms that have occurred
rather than pressing for more.
Italian Second Republic