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Do Italians Undersand Democracy

Do Italians understand democracy?

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After almost six months of sexual scandals, the fact that Berlusconi is still in power has raised eyebrows in the Western Press elsewhere, particularly in Britain. Nevertheless, the fact that his reputation seems unscathed with his supporters despite his ambiguous judicial record, his questionable amorous connections and his divorce, and his stormy relationship with the country’s left-wing media, must constitute a kind of record in countries where public opinion is an important aspect of a democratically elected leader’s ability to stay in office. So what is the secret to Berlusconi’s remarkable staying power.

 

In the first place, it needs to be said that while in Britain and the US, sexual misdemeanour is considered unforgivable in public figures and so renders them unfit for public office, in Italy, politicians’ sexual misdemeanours carry little political weight, even though they fill the gossip pages. Even the Church is prepared to turn an eye to the extra-marital peccadillos of a political figure as long as his (sic) politics is consonant with Church interests (intended broadly or narrowly as the case may be!) This is (rightly or wrongly!) considered part of the private domain and may even carry a touch of bravado (as Berlusconi’s escapades certainly do). Since so much of Berlusconi’s behaviour is ‘performance’ in an ongoing national spectacle (almost a soap opera!), it is fair to say that his sexual performances carry the weight of masquerading his virility; they proclaim that he still ‘has what it takes’, they imbue his smile and impeccable dress sense with the sexual mana that is part of his appeal to his supporters as ‘one of the boys’, an ‘ordinary guy who has what it takes to be extraordinary. If he can, so can I! Moreover, in Berluscon’s case, this appeal is almost messaianic in its proportions. A Roman fan – no one in particular, just an ordinary Italian interviewed off the street – told a BBC reporter that despite the peccadillos – indeed who knows if not because of them – Berlusconi is still his number one candidate: he is the only one who can save Italy (BBC World, September 9). This is not the first time however that Italians have thrown in their lot with a charismatic leader who purports to have the recipe to save them. Of course I’m referring to the duce-complex that made Italy ripe for Mussolini and for fascism A disatrous experiment! In the years after the the second world war, Italians hammered out the post-war consensus that turned its back on fascism (but arguably never actually exorcised it) and that brought Italians the prosperity they enjoy today. However, in 1992, that consensus collapsed as operation clean hands exposed the depth of the corruption of the post-war political system in the hands of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. In an attempt to wipe clean the political slate, the magistrates of the Milanese investigative team exposed the political wheeling and dealing that had become a cliché of Italian political life: the collapse of the First Republic ensued although the birth of the Second saw most of the politicians implicated in the corruption reinstated as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless Italians - rightly - were disgusted and while public opinion itself eventually turned against the magistrates for being too ruthless – part of an Italian double face which indicates deep rooted suspician of the law in Italian society – the scene had been set for the entry of a politician who was not from within the political classes and who thus could claim as a wildly successful businessman to be ‘one of us’ rather than ‘one of them’, that is, not a politico. The fact that Berlusconi had close ties with Bettino Craxi of the by-then defunct Socialist party did not seem to cause much concern. Nor the fact that he was implicated in the wheeling and dealing which operation clean hands was all about in the first place. Then by some psychological sleight of hand, Italians (the media?) suddenly got tired of the whole clean-up, seemingly exonerated all politicians as if they had suffered enough, and turned on the magistrates themselves, accusing them of a ‘witch-hunt’. Berlusconi’s entry into politics at this precise psychological moment (1994) permitted him to side-step accusations of corruption and attack his accusers – the judiciary – of a witch-hunt for political gain. The attack on the judiciary has subsequently been enlarged to include all left-wing political affiliations and the battle-cry against ‘communists’ has become a frequently used tool to discredit opposition politics or deflect criticism by the opposition. This ‘ideological’ battle-cry has in fact totally undermined the rationality of political life and reduced it to a screaming match between two political sides. It goes without saying that Berlusconi’s behind the scenes control of the TV Empire Mediaset (these 3 channels now belong to his brother Paolo!) and of the right wing newspaper Il Giornale (also belonging to his brother) has given the him the institutional stick he needs to play off any attack on him (no matter how reasonable or unreasonable), as a viscious plot to discredit him. So far all of this has largely been confined to the political sphere but Berlusconi’s divorce this year and the flurry of sex scandals and subsequent political favours to call girls that have ensued have thus predictably unleashed a furore in the media and have resulted in his politicisation of the whole affair: unbelievably he has even attributed his ex-wife’s attack on him as being part a communist plot against him! The reaction to any criticism of his morals etc has been swift. Witness the viscious attack on the director, of the Catholic daily Avvenire, Dino Boffo, by the editor of Il Giornale (which I remind you belongs to Berlusconi’s brother) and his subsequent resignation, and you have a taste of the climate in Italy at the moment. Boffo not only brought the spotlight on the morality of Berlusconi’s ‘partying’ (note this euphemism, despite their reported extravagance (Espresso, September, 19th)) but on the policy of the Lega Nord (his coalition partner in government) against illegal immigrants, which in Church quarters has been lambasted as rascist. The counter-attack on Boffo came in the form of a scurrilous journalistic enterprise undercovering a past extra marital affair with an implication of homosexuality!. Not even a statement of support from the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference could save him. Of course Berlusconi claimed to have clean hands in the affair.

 

As the atmosphere hots up, we are witnessing the full blown attack by Berlusconi and his ministers – politically through the instrument of government decrees and ideologically through the manipulation of the media (which NOW also includes increasing government control of Italian public TV channels RAI) – on any person or institution in opposition to the Berlusconi or even the Lega’s secessionist and divisive politics (the attack on Italy as a united country and now more recently on immigrants have become increasingly strident). The other member of the coalition, Gianfranco Fini, has tried to play down the extreme elements in the governing coalition but without success. Remarkably both Berlusconi and the Lega appear to have emerged politically unscathed from these manoeuvres as their Truth takes institutional (parliamentary and mediatic) precedence over opposing opinions – all villified, ironicised, discarded. The rupture in Italian society on the ideological level as the country in fact pursues hard-line right wing politics is the most dangerous aspect of the present polical ruckus taking place in this country. As yet no newspapers or any transmissions have been banned (as in fact happened in 2001 – 2006, to be reinstated under Prodi’s brief 18 months in power) but journalists are beginning to silence themselves - like Boffo they may have some skeleton in their cupboards! - and the pressure is on the ‘baddies’ (Marco Travaglio, Flores, Santoro – all aligned to RAI 3) who dare openly criticise the PM, to resign. And unbelievably most Italians (certainly the government’s supporters, which is about fifty percent) seem to approve of this attempt to silence the opposition. Either that or they don’t care. The economic downturn gives most people enough to worry about and it’s enough for the government to lower a tax or two to remind the electorate who has their real interests at heart!

 

So I return to question posed by the title of my article: Do Italians understand democracy? To the extent that democracy depends on a rational consensus and independence of information: the answer is no. The minute italians – as a political community - permitted the incoming head-of-state to hold onto his media empire (1994), they put their first foot on the slippery slope to the fraught political situaton they are facing today. But until a real respect of law and the rights accruing to it become part of Italian culture and thus of every aspect of society, Berlusconi (and the likes of him) will continue to thrive in Italian life both openly and in the shadows!

 

Do Italians understand democracy?

After almost six months of sexual scandals, the fact that Berlusconi is still in power has raised eyebrows in the Western Press elsewhere, particularly in Britain. Nevertheless, the fact that his reputation seems unscathed with his supporters despite his ambiguous judicial record, his questionable amorous connections and his divorce, and his stormy relationship with the country’s left-wing media, must constitute a kind of record in countries where public opinion is an important aspect of a democratically elected leader’s ability to stay in office. So what is the secret to Berlusconi’s remarkable staying power.

In the first place, it needs to be said that while in Britain and the US, sexual misdemeanour is considered unforgivable in public figures and so renders them unfit for public office, in Italy, politicians’ sexual misdemeanours carry little political weight, even though they fill the gossip pages. Even the Church is prepared to turn an eye to the extra-marital peccadillos of a political figure as long as his (sic) politics is consonant with Church interests (intended broadly or narrowly as the case may be!) This is (rightly or wrongly!) considered part of the private domain and may even carry a touch of bravado (as Berlusconi’s escapades certainly do). Since so much of Berlusconi’s behaviour is ‘performance’ in an ongoing national spectacle (almost a soap opera!), it is fair to say that his sexual performances carry the weight of masquerading his virility; they proclaim that he still ‘has what it takes’, they imbue his smile and impeccable dress sense with the sexual mana that is part of his appeal to his supporters as ‘one of the boys’, an ‘ordinary guy who has what it takes to be extraordinary. If he can, so can I! Moreover, in Berluscon’s case, this appeal is almost messaianic in its proportions. A Roman fan – no one in particular, just an ordinary Italian interviewed off the street – told a BBC reporter that despite the peccadillos – indeed who knows if not because of them – Berlusconi is still his number one candidate: he is the only one who can save Italy (BBC World, September 9). This is not the first time however that Italians have thrown in their lot with a charismatic leader who purports to have the recipe to save them. Of course I’m referring to the duce-complex that made Italy ripe for Mussolini and for fascism A disatrous experiment! In the years after the the second world war, Italians hammered out the post-war consensus that turned its back on fascism (but arguably never actually exorcised it) and that brought Italians the prosperity they enjoy today. However, in 1992, that consensus collapsed as operation clean hands exposed the depth of the corruption of the post-war political system in the hands of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. In an attempt to wipe clean the political slate, the magistrates of the Milanese investigative team exposed the political wheeling and dealing that had become a cliché of Italian political life: the collapse of the First Republic ensued although the birth of the Second saw most of the politicians implicated in the corruption reinstated as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless Italians - rightly - were disgusted and while public opinion itself eventually turned against the magistrates for being too ruthless – part of an Italian double face which indicates deep rooted suspician of the law in Italian society – the scene had been set for the entry of a politician who was not from within the political classes and who thus could claim as a wildly successful businessman to be ‘one of us’ rather than ‘one of them’, that is, not a politico. The fact that Berlusconi had close ties with Bettino Craxi of the by-then defunct Socialist party did not seem to cause much concern. Nor the fact that he was implicated in the wheeling and dealing which operation clean hands was all about in the first place. Then by some psychological sleight of hand, Italians (the media?) suddenly got tired of the whole clean-up, seemingly exonerated all politicians as if they had suffered enough, and turned on the magistrates themselves, accusing them of a ‘witch-hunt’. Berlusconi’s entry into politics at this precise psychological moment (1994) permitted him to side-step accusations of corruption and attack his accusers – the judiciary – of a witch-hunt for political gain. The attack on the judiciary has subsequently been enlarged to include all left-wing political affiliations and the battle-cry against ‘communists’ has become a frequently used tool to discredit opposition politics or deflect criticism by the opposition. This ‘ideological’ battle-cry has in fact totally undermined the rationality of political life and reduced it to a screaming match between two political sides. It goes without saying that Berlusconi’s behind the scenes control of the TV Empire Mediaset (these 3 channels now belong to his brother Paolo!) and of the right wing newspaper Il Giornale (also belonging to his brother) has given the him the institutional stick he needs to play off any attack on him (no matter how reasonable or unreasonable), as a viscious plot to discredit him. So far all of this has largely been confined to the political sphere but Berlusconi’s divorce this year and the flurry of sex scandals and subsequent political favours to call girls that have ensued have thus predictably unleashed a furore in the media and have resulted in his politicisation of the whole affair: unbelievably he has even attributed his ex-wife’s attack on him as being part a communist plot against him! The reaction to any criticism of his morals etc has been swift. Witness the viscious attack on the director, of the Catholic daily Avvenire, Dino Boffo, by the editor of Il Giornale (which I remind you belongs to Berlusconi’s brother) and his subsequent resignation, and you have a taste of the climate in Italy at the moment. Boffo not only brought the spotlight on the morality of Berlusconi’s ‘partying’ (note this euphemism, despite their reported extravagance (Espresso, September, 19th)) but on the policy of the Lega Nord (his coalition partner in government) against illegal immigrants, which in Church quarters has been lambasted as rascist. The counter-attack on Boffo came in the form of a scurrilous journalistic enterprise undercovering a past extra marital affair with an implication of homosexuality!. Not even a statement of support from the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference could save him. Of course Berlusconi claimed to have clean hands in the affair.

As the atmosphere hots up, we are witnessing the full blown attack by Berlusconi and his ministers – politically through the instrument of government decrees and ideologically through the manipulation of the media (which NOW also includes increasing government control of Italian public TV channels RAI) – on any person or institution in opposition to the Berlusconi or even the Lega’s secessionist and divisive politics (the attack on Italy as a united country and now more recently on immigrants have become increasingly strident). The other member of the coalition, Gianfranco Fini, has tried to play down the extreme elements in the governing coalition but without success. Remarkably both Berlusconi and the Lega appear to have emerged politically unscathed from these manoeuvres as their Truth takes institutional (parliamentary and mediatic) precedence over opposing opinions – all villified, ironicised, discarded. The rupture in Italian society on the ideological level as the country in fact pursues hard-line right wing politics is the most dangerous aspect of the present polical ruckus taking place in this country. As yet no newspapers or any transmissions have been banned (as in fact happened in 2001 – 2006, to be reinstated under Prodi’s brief 18 months in power) but journalists are beginning to silence themselves - like Boffo they may have some skeleton in their cupboards! - and the pressure is on the ‘baddies’ (Marco Travaglio, Flores, Santoro – all aligned to RAI 3) who dare openly criticise the PM, to resign. And unbelievably most Italians (certainly the government’s supporters, which is about fifty percent) seem to approve of this attempt to silence the opposition. Either that or they don’t care. The economic downturn gives most people enough to worry about and it’s enough for the government to lower a tax or two to remind the electorate who has their real interests at heart!

So I return to question posed by the title of my article: Do Italians understand democracy? To the extent that democracy depends on a rational consensus and independence of information: the answer is no. The minute italians – as a political community - permitted the incoming head-of-state to hold onto his media empire (1994), they put their first foot on the slippery slope to the fraught political situaton they are facing today. But until a real respect of law and the rights accruing to it become part of Italian culture and thus of every aspect of society, Berlusconi (and the likes of him) will continue to thrive in Italian life both openly and in the shadows!

 

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Do Italians understand democracy?

?

After almost six months of sexual scandals, the fact that Berlusconi is still in power has raised eyebrows in the Western Press elsewhere, particularly in Britain. Nevertheless, the fact that his reputation seems unscathed with his supporters despite his ambiguous judicial record, his questionable amorous connections and his divorce, and his stormy relationship with the country’s left-wing media, must constitute a kind of record in countries where public opinion is an important aspect of a democratically elected leader’s ability to stay in office. So what is the secret to Berlusconi’s remarkable staying power.

 

In the first place, it needs to be said that while in Britain and the US, sexual misdemeanour is considered unforgivable in public figures and so renders them unfit for public office, in Italy, politicians’ sexual misdemeanours carry little political weight, even though they fill the gossip pages. Even the Church is prepared to turn an eye to the extra-marital peccadillos of a political figure as long as his (sic) politics is consonant with Church interests (intended broadly or narrowly as the case may be!) This is (rightly or wrongly!) considered part of the private domain and may even carry a touch of bravado (as Berlusconi’s escapades certainly do). Since so much of Berlusconi’s behaviour is ‘performance’ in an ongoing national spectacle (almost a soap opera!), it is fair to say that his sexual performances carry the weight of masquerading his virility; they proclaim that he still ‘has what it takes’, they imbue his smile and impeccable dress sense with the sexual mana that is part of his appeal to his supporters as ‘one of the boys’, an ‘ordinary guy who has what it takes to be extraordinary. If he can, so can I! Moreover, in Berluscon’s case, this appeal is almost messaianic in its proportions. A Roman fan – no one in particular, just an ordinary Italian interviewed off the street – told a BBC reporter that despite the peccadillos – indeed who knows if not because of them – Berlusconi is still his number one candidate: he is the only one who can save Italy (BBC World, September 9). This is not the first time however that Italians have thrown in their lot with a charismatic leader who purports to have the recipe to save them. Of course I’m referring to the duce-complex that made Italy ripe for Mussolini and for fascism A disatrous experiment! In the years after the the second world war, Italians hammered out the post-war consensus that turned its back on fascism (but arguably never actually exorcised it) and that brought Italians the prosperity they enjoy today. However, in 1992, that consensus collapsed as operation clean hands exposed the depth of the corruption of the post-war political system in the hands of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. In an attempt to wipe clean the political slate, the magistrates of the Milanese investigative team exposed the political wheeling and dealing that had become a cliché of Italian political life: the collapse of the First Republic ensued although the birth of the Second saw most of the politicians implicated in the corruption reinstated as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless Italians - rightly - were disgusted and while public opinion itself eventually turned against the magistrates for being too ruthless – part of an Italian double face which indicates deep rooted suspician of the law in Italian society – the scene had been set for the entry of a politician who was not from within the political classes and who thus could claim as a wildly successful businessman to be ‘one of us’ rather than ‘one of them’, that is, not a politico. The fact that Berlusconi had close ties with Bettino Craxi of the by-then defunct Socialist party did not seem to cause much concern. Nor the fact that he was implicated in the wheeling and dealing which operation clean hands was all about in the first place. Then by some psychological sleight of hand, Italians (the media?) suddenly got tired of the whole clean-up, seemingly exonerated all politicians as if they had suffered enough, and turned on the magistrates themselves, accusing them of a ‘witch-hunt’. Berlusconi’s entry into politics at this precise psychological moment (1994) permitted him to side-step accusations of corruption and attack his accusers – the judiciary – of a witch-hunt for political gain. The attack on the judiciary has subsequently been enlarged to include all left-wing political affiliations and the battle-cry against ‘communists’ has become a frequently used tool to discredit opposition politics or deflect criticism by the opposition. This ‘ideological’ battle-cry has in fact totally undermined the rationality of political life and reduced it to a screaming match between two political sides. It goes without saying that Berlusconi’s behind the scenes control of the TV Empire Mediaset (these 3 channels now belong to his brother Paolo!) and of the right wing newspaper Il Giornale (also belonging to his brother) has given the him the institutional stick he needs to play off any attack on him (no matter how reasonable or unreasonable), as a viscious plot to discredit him. So far all of this has largely been confined to the political sphere but Berlusconi’s divorce this year and the flurry of sex scandals and subsequent political favours to call girls that have ensued have thus predictably unleashed a furore in the media and have resulted in his politicisation of the whole affair: unbelievably he has even attributed his ex-wife’s attack on him as being part a communist plot against him! The reaction to any criticism of his morals etc has been swift. Witness the viscious attack on the director, of the Catholic daily Avvenire, Dino Boffo, by the editor of Il Giornale (which I remind you belongs to Berlusconi’s brother) and his subsequent resignation, and you have a taste of the climate in Italy at the moment. Boffo not only brought the spotlight on the morality of Berlusconi’s ‘partying’ (note this euphemism, despite their reported extravagance (Espresso, September, 19th)) but on the policy of the Lega Nord (his coalition partner in government) against illegal immigrants, which in Church quarters has been lambasted as rascist. The counter-attack on Boffo came in the form of a scurrilous journalistic enterprise undercovering a past extra marital affair with an implication of homosexuality!. Not even a statement of support from the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference could save him. Of course Berlusconi claimed to have clean hands in the affair.

 

As the atmosphere hots up, we are witnessing the full blown attack by Berlusconi and his ministers – politically through the instrument of government decrees and ideologically through the manipulation of the media (which NOW also includes increasing government control of Italian public TV channels RAI) – on any person or institution in opposition to the Berlusconi or even the Lega’s secessionist and divisive politics (the attack on Italy as a united country and now more recently on immigrants have become increasingly strident). The other member of the coalition, Gianfranco Fini, has tried to play down the extreme elements in the governing coalition but without success. Remarkably both Berlusconi and the Lega appear to have emerged politically unscathed from these manoeuvres as their Truth takes institutional (parliamentary and mediatic) precedence over opposing opinions – all villified, ironicised, discarded. The rupture in Italian society on the ideological level as the country in fact pursues hard-line right wing politics is the most dangerous aspect of the present polical ruckus taking place in this country. As yet no newspapers or any transmissions have been banned (as in fact happened in 2001 – 2006, to be reinstated under Prodi’s brief 18 months in power) but journalists are beginning to silence themselves - like Boffo they may have some skeleton in their cupboards! - and the pressure is on the ‘baddies’ (Marco Travaglio, Flores, Santoro – all aligned to RAI 3) who dare openly criticise the PM, to resign. And unbelievably most Italians (certainly the government’s supporters, which is about fifty percent) seem to approve of this attempt to silence the opposition. Either that or they don’t care. The economic downturn gives most people enough to worry about and it’s enough for the government to lower a tax or two to remind the electorate who has their real interests at heart!

 

So I return to question posed by the title of my article: Do Italians understand democracy? To the extent that democracy depends on a rational consensus and independence of information: the answer is no. The minute italians – as a political community - permitted the incoming head-of-state to hold onto his media empire (1994), they put their first foot on the slippery slope to the fraught political situaton they are facing today. But until a real respect of law and the rights accruing to it become part of Italian culture and thus of every aspect of society, Berlusconi (and the likes of him) will continue to thrive in Italian life both openly and in the shadows!

 

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About the Author

I'm 49. I am Soth African and an English teacher although I have a keen interest in politics. I have been living in Italy for 8 years

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