Samenvatting

Ever since the start of the Italian Republic in 1946, the Italian political system seems to have experienced instability. It has had more than 60 governments in a 60 year period. In 1992, the political
system collapsed and that which external factors attempted to achieve in the 1960s until the 1980s but failed to manage, occurred naturally when it collapsed all by itself. With the dissolution of the parties
that ruled Italy for almost half a century, a great void was created into which Berlusconi stepped into politics. Berlusconi represented something new, something that had nothing to do with the corrupt
political system and that spoke the language of the people. He was, in fact, not a politician at all, but a wealthy businessman, owning the three largest commercial television channels in the country.
According to him, no-one else could lead the country better than someone who had experience in building a successful business empire from nothing.
In fact, Berlusconi proved to be the longest serving Prime Minister of the country since the Second World War. He was the only Prime Minister who managed to complete a full term in government, in a
country where a government lasted approximately a year. This appearance of stability is in contrast to the controversies surrounding Berlusconi. At the moment, he is accused in court of having slept with a girl when she was minor. He has a long list of trials and accusation for, amongst other things, bribery,
false accounting and corruption. Italy is not even considered anymore as a country with a free press, but downgraded, since Berlusconi came to power, to 'partially free'. From the reforming spirit of 1992,
nothing is left and Italy seems still to be a country in transition.