Berlusconi's Italy: Mapping Contemporary Italian Politics

 Perhaps the most notable outcome was the emergence of Italy’s wealthiest man, Silvio Berlusconi, as the indispensable focus of Italian politics, both positively and negatively, from 1994 until 2006. Neither Berlusconi’s rise to power nor his recent 2006 electoral defeat have met with many detailed empirical analyses of how his and the other organized political forces replaced the old parties. 

Without neglecting the personal role of il Cavaliere (or “the Knight,” as he is known and likes to be known), our spotlight falls much more on the geographical dynamics of popular support (or “followership”) for the various political factions, particularly on the center-right, to better understand how Berlusconi could assume such a central role in Italian politics.