Go to London to watch the Changing of the Guard, go to Rome to watch the Changing of the Governments...

The object of almost Bush-like hatred from the Italian (and European) left, Berlu' has solid popular support, and the electoral reform following the 1992 political meltdown has stabilized his government. There were so many governments post-1946 because of proportional representation, so that every government was a coalition, which broke up when one of the partners felt it was getting cut out of the plunder and wanted a new deal.

Italocanadian--

I would also point out that the governments of the postwar period to 1992 kept collapsing, but always included the same guys over and over--most famously, of course, Craxi and Andreotti.

Ken:

To Cambridge to see the changing of Kerry's mind...

Cambridge? Try Paris.

The real surprise is that Berlusconi is able to survive despite very serious questions of corruption and conflict of interests. My impression is that the Italians are quite aware of those issues and have choosen to support him anyway - not because they are false allegations, but because he provides leadership.

My impression is that the Italians are quite aware of those issues and have choosen to support him anyway - not because they are false allegations, but because he provides leadership.

There is also the idea that Berlusconi is a "self-made" man, who came from outside the political and economic elite (he was a singer) to become the richest man in Italy and PM. This is only partially true--Craxi was the best man at his wedding (or maybe it was the other way around, I can't remember)--but it isn't untrue, either.

It does mean, though, that he hasn't really been able to change institutions in Italy, or even have a successor. This is common enough in Italy, where there have been many parties based on a charismatic, or at least a single, politician. His conflicts of interest and legal troubles don't help, and some of my more forthright friends admit it.

The point about the governments changing but eacg new cabinet being essentially a permutation of the previous one is captured by the Italian expression, "I soliti quattro gatti." Who's in the new government: "The usual four cats."

Modern Italian politics have always had this comic-opera quality to them.