This book is about one of the most remarkable European politicians of recent decades, Silvio Berlusconi, and about his contribution to the dramatic changes that have overtaken Italian politics since the early 1990s. From the vantage point of 2017, would Italian political history of the past twenty-five years look substantially different had Berlusconi not had the high-profile role in it that he did? Asking the question makes it possible to contribute to a broader debate of recent years concerning the significance of leaders in post-Cold War democratic politics. Having considered Berlusconi’s legacy in the areas of political culture, voting and party politics, public policy and the quality of Italian democracy, the book concludes by considering the international significance of the Berlusconi phenomenon in relation to the recent election of Donald Trump, with whom Berlusconi is often compared.
Table of Content
Introduction: a remarkable politician?
Part I: Emergence
1 From childhood, through business career to political debut, 1936–93
2 Berlusconi’s political message
Part II: Berlusconi the politician
3 Forza Italia and national politics, 1994–2001
4 Berlusconi the party leader
Part III: Berlusconi the Prime Minister
5 Berlusconi in office, 2001–11
6 Berlusconi’s relations with the political class
Part IV: Berlusconi’s legacy
7 Berlusconi and cultural change in Italy
8 Berlusconi’s electoral impact
9 Berlusconi as head of government
10 Berlusconi’s legacy for the quality of Italian democracy
Conclusion: the Berlusconi story and Donald Trump
References
Index
About the author
James L. Newell is Professor of Politics at the University of Salford
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