Democracy around the World 2: Italy

From Greece to Italy, out of the frying pan…

Last week, in the first post in this series on Democracy around the World, I wrote about George Papademos, the technocratic prime minister of Greece, and that country’s idiosyncratic new take on the concept of democracy, to wit, having much less of it. But that was nothing compared to the situation in Italy, now presided over by Economist King Mario Monti. At least the ministers serving under Papademos are all elected representatives of the people. In Italy, the entire cabinet is made up of technocrats, with not one elected deputy among them! 

Mario Monti with his new cabinet and President of Italy, Georgio Napolitano
(Photo: Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana)

 As a supposed supporter of democracy, then, it is with regret that I report that the new, non-elected Monti regime is a vast improvement on the previous, elected Berlusconi one.

Silvio Berlusconi: Richest Man in Italy, Media Mogul, Party Animal… plus Prime Minister!

Let me explain why. Years of exposure to garish 90’s TV cult leader Silvio Berlusconi have numbed the initial shock of his initial, dizzyingly stratospheric trajectory into power, so that we now impassively accept the most basic facts as a matter of course and without comment. But those basic facts are an outrage against democracy and common sense, and must be restated as bluntly as possible at every opportunity, so here we go:

Berlusconi, when he first became prime minister, was the richest individual in Italy and owned most of the private media.

Are you flabbergasted yet? Are you kidding?! It’s as if Bill Gates had decided simply to buy America – probably a distinct possibility, but common decency forbids it. Even Mitt Romney, whose absurd wealth has attracted criticism in the USA, is still nowhere near as rich as the perma-tanned, hair-dyed, A.C. Milan-owing Italian pharaoh. Berlusconi becoming prime minister should be unbelievable, but the fact that this ludicrous figure actually won not just a single election but several, dominating 15 years of Italian politics, forces us to believe it.

The emblems of Berlusconi's various political parties and electoral alliances since 1994 - a masterclass in rebranding

His first success came in the 1994 Italian general election, just three months after he founded his vaguely centre-right one-man electoral vehicle Forza Italia and announced his intention to run.

As first wild stabs at politics go, it’s quite impressive. Not many new movements go from a standing start with zero representation in parliament to forming a government in three months.

So it’s understandable why TG4 news anchor and Italian media institution Emilio Fede got so terribly emotional during an impassioned, almost fanatical on-air encomium to Berlusconi “whom I permit myself" says Emilio, "to call my friend,” with which he ended his election night ‘news’ broadcast. Overwhelmed with joy, no doubt, that his own personal efforts throughout the campaign had not been in vain. Fede went on to become a member of the Italian senate for Berlusconi’s rebranded but equally vacuous popolo della libertà party.

Those are the fundamental outrageous facts of the outgoing Italian regime, and that ought to be enough to raise serious questions in anyone’s mind about the validity of democracy on the boot-shaped Mediterranean peninsula. But, as this is Silvio ‘Bunga Bunga’ Berlusconi we’re talking about, there are always plenty of sideshows to remind us that this man should be somewhere near the bottom of your list of people who should be in charge of an entire country.

Silvio Feminista

Berlusconi is full of surprises, however, and we should give him credit where credit is due. This is the man, after all, who decided that there were not enough women in his cabinet and in the Italian and European Parliaments, and so took it upon himself personally to hand-pick and introduce a few more. A perfectly laudable thing, you might think. Surely, as a committed progressive thinker you can’t find fault with such a forward-thinking policy as that?

(Photo: Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana)

This is Mara Carfagna, former topless model and Italian Equal Opportunities Minister under Berlusconi. Certain sections of the British press leapt predictably at the opportunity to liven up their pages with a selection of images from her portfolio, and a Berlusconian comment about her figure in 2008 brought us the Sun headline ‘Silvio Fears for Minister’s Boobs’.

(Photo: Flickr/European Parliament)

Then there is soap star, TV presenter and Miss Italy contestant Barbara Matera, now a representative for Silvio’s party in the European Parliament (above).

These are not token appointments, but part of a deliberate strategy to promote more ‘pink candidates,’ such as dental hygienist Nicole Minetti, at the regional, national and European level. Miss Minetti caught Silvio's eye when she treated his broken teeth after he was assaulted by a disgruntled citizen wielding a miniature model of Milan cathedral in December 2009.

Berlusconi can therefore be credited with adding a radical feminine touch and some youthful faces to the Italian political scene traditionally dominated by geriatric males like, er, Silvio Berlusconi (75), and indeed there are signs that this may be a lasting legacy. For there is some continuity between the Berlusconi regime and the new technocracy in this respect. It must be admitted, however, that the women who feature prominently in Mario Monti’s cabinet have qualifications of an altogether different nature.

(Photo: Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana)

Anna Maria Cancellieri (above) is the new Interior Minister, with a degree in political sciences at the respected Sapienza University of Rome and a long career of civil service behind her. She has worked before at the ministry she now heads, and has served as prefect in several Italian provinces.

(Photo: Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana)

Paola Severino, also a Sapienza graduate, has meanwhile been appointed by Mario Monti as head of the Ministry of Justice, where she will presumably have to deal with several complex and protracted legal cases relating to Silvio Berlusconi. Fortunately, she has experience both as a professor and practising lawyer, specialising in penal law. Sadly, however, she has never been on the cover of Maxim magazine.

Policy

The actual policies of Berlusconi’s regime were sadly often overlooked by a foreign press which was more than satisfied with his latest personal scandal or showgirl protégé. Nevertheless, it must be said that this was an area where his government outdid itself. The list of issues it failed to deal with is long and includes the national debt, tax evasion, organised crime, the economic divide between north and south and the exodus of talented young Italians due to lack of opportunity. These issues seem to have been sidelined by Berlusconi’s more immediate concerns such as:

1.  Keeping his coalition partners happy, no mean feat when these have included Northern League separatists and various extreme right-wingers such as glamour-model-cum-MEP Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the celebrated wartime leader.
2.  Preserving the law which grants him immunity from prosecution for the many alleged crimes which the ‘communist’ Italian judiciary would like to pin on him.

Mario Monti and his crack team seem to be faring rather better with the markets, having presided over bond auctions raising 7 billion euros at the end of last year and 12 billion more in January. The interest rate on one-year loans for the Italian government has plummeted from almost 7% at its peak to 2.7% last month. But it remains to be seen whether the technocrats can deliver on Italy’s other pressing problems. At least they do not have the constant threat of court cases and political machinations to distract them.

So what about democracy?

So where does this leave Italian democracy? Can the Italian people ever again be trusted to choose their own leaders? What will happen in 2013, when elections are scheduled to take place?

There are positive signs. The ageing Silvio has already pledged not to run again for prime minister, and he is surely too divisive a figure to run for President of the Republic.

But there are also dangers. Berlusconi will no doubt try to use his power and money to continue to influence Italian politics, even if he has to do so from the confines of prison, just like a real Italian mob boss. And even without Silvio, is the system that allowed him into power worth restoring?

As in Greece, trust in politicians generally is low, and corruption high. Amongst ordinary Italians, support for the technocracy is limited, with similar scenes of protest against austerity and unelected leaders. Many of the protesters on the Italian streets today are the same who protested against Berlusconi’s regime.

No Berlusconi Day, 5th December 2009 (Photo: Flickr/Emanuele)

So what do they want? It seems that these Italians, like their counterparts in Greece, do want some kind of democracy, but aren’t interested in having back the kind they had before. Unfortunately their message is woefully incoherent, and Italy seems to be one place where, for the time being, the people are better off being ruled by experts than being allowed to elect populist media demagogues.

Now, after two posts on Mediterranean technocracies, I would completely understand if readers demanded that the Democracy in the title of this series be encased in inverted commas. So how can I rectify the situation? European parliamentary democracy appears to be in crisis, so I shall have to go further afield to see if someone, somewhere has come up with an alternative for us to learn from. Please stay tuned and join me on this voyage of discovery, wherever it takes me next time.