April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

efore has Italy seemed as divided as it is now, between the real country
grappling with pressing economic problems and the political world which
discusses and clashes over the notorious parties in the PM’s villa and
celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the unity of Italy.
To explain all of this, some questions need to be asked. How has Italy,
which, notwithstanding everything, is one of the most industrialised
countries on the planet, fallen into this situation? How could a cement and
television entrepreneur (Silvio Berlusconi) have come out of the political
and criminal undergrowth to become the unchallenged arbiter in Italian
politics for the last 20 years? How could the strongest communist party in
the West sink into a never-ending crisis which has now transformed it into
a gelatinous political amoeba?
Berlusconi enters politics
The international changes at the end of the 1980s contributed to the crisis
of the Italian political system. Added to that were the conflicts caused by
widespread corruption at every level. The big mass parties, which had
represented the main government (Christian Democrats) and opposition
(Communist Party) forces, dissolved, along with their lesser satellites, and
left behind an enormous political vacuum. Both the capitalist class and the
working class were orphaned by their traditional political points of
reference.
In this situation, Berlusconi, who until then had been a parvenu
businessman who was never accepted into the “good circles” of Italian
finance capital and was burdened with debts and legal problems, had the
idea of using his organisational, financial and media resources to fill the
vacuum left by the Christian Democrats (DC).
By launching unknown people into politics, many of them from his own
companies, he managed to win the 1994 general election and to
consolidate a real reactionary social bloc around his party and himself. The
very name of his party - Forza Italia (‘Come on Italy’) - was directed at
non-political layers in Italian society, steeped in football and television. It
managed to replace the DC and occupy its political space.
Even though it was the creature of one of the richest capitalists in the
country, Forza Italia (FI) managed to break through to the small and
medium bourgeoisie whom the DC had always reached with the a clear
message: “Of course, our government has to impose many taxes but, as
long as we are in power, you don’t have to pay them!”. Leaning on the
middle classes’ fear of petty crime – blown up by the media – the DC kept
the support of those layers and, at the same time, did not punish their
illegal tax evasion. In fact, in Italy, 90% of taxes come from employed
workers while other social groups get away with widespread evasion.
Support for Berlusconi
The second pillar which had guaranteed the dominance of the DC in the
preceding decades was the open and unconditional support of the Catholic
Church. At first sight, the dissolute and libertine lifestyle of the current
prime minister seems clearly at odds with the teachings of the Catholic
Church. But despite appearances, the Pope and Cardinals seem quite
happy with a prime minister who has been prepared to pass medieval laws
on civil rights and to finance Catholic schools, exempting them from taxes.
The third pillar is the relationship with the bosses. Berlusconi is one
himself and he has totally adopted their programme. Up until the 1970s,
Italian industry developed spectacularly, led by the chemical, car,
construction and light engineering sectors. Italian capitalism, despite