Behind every word lies a story
A journey through Italy in 15 words
When Sebastian Heinrich was twelve years old, he moved with his parents from Bavaria to Italy. There, more precisely in Campania, with its capital Naples, he spent the rest of his school years. As he also married an Italian woman from the north of the country, half of his family is Italian. So when he writes about Italy, it is not an outsider’s perspective, but that of someone with a personal stake in the country. He hopes his book will help readers to understand Italy better, regardless of what they already know about the country. (a)
In doing so, Heinrich never resorts to stereotypes. Virtually every statement he makes is backed up by evidence; the appendix runs to thirty pages. And as there is no language barrier for him, almost all his sources are Italian. The author thus sets a very good example of how Europeans should talk and write with and about one another if the European project is to have a future. Yet the subject of the EU and European integration features almost only in passing in his book, which is dedicated to Italy.
In about a third of the 15 words he has selected, the political aspect predominates. What is more, they shed light on the state of democracy. Although using Italy as an example, they are relevant to the whole of Europe and beyond. These are the following chapters: ‘Berlusconismo – How the cavaliere changed Italy’, ‘Dietrologica – Conspiracy Theories, Italian Style’, ‘LVI – The Long Shadow of Fascism’, ‘Mezzogiorno – Why the North Turns Up Its Nose at the South – and vice versa’ and, finally, ‘Papeete – Why Governments Fall So Often in Italy’. Each of these chapters highlights a threat to democracy.
‘Berlusconismo’
Berlusconi can be regarded as the Trump of Italy (or Europe). He preceded the American incumbent as a role model. For in Italy, the signs of crisis became apparent a good two decades earlier. Nor was Berlusconi held back by any law as he built up his economic and media power. Thus, he ultimately became the beneficiary of an upheaval in the party system in the early 1990s. This was the result of a “gigantic corruption scandal”, known as “tangentopoli”. (b) Bribes paid by companies to all the major parties came to light. The public were outraged and changed their voting behaviour. Berlusconi feared his media power would be curtailed and began building his political movement, Forza Italia.
The fact that he had to stand trial in more than thirty court cases (c) is also reminiscent of Trump. The charges included tax fraud, corruption offences and illegal party funding. (d) His government therefore introduced laws designed primarily to serve his own interests. One example was ‘the de facto abolition of the criminal offence of balance-sheet fraud’. (c) Nevertheless, he won three national elections and became Italy’s head of government in 1994, 2001 and 2008. And from 2001 onwards, he was the first since the founding of the Republic to serve a full parliamentary term.
‘Papeete’
In Italy, ‘Papeete’ refers to ‘a government crisis triggered in a grossly reckless manner’. Whilst Papeete is the name of the capital of French Polynesia, it is also the name of a beach club in northern Italy. During a beach tour in the summer of 2019, the then Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, in his swimming trunks, so to speak, announced the collapse of the governing coalition. He ultimately failed, but such attempts are often successful: in Germany, there have been nine Federal Chancellors and 24 cabinets since 1949. In Italy, by contrast, 31 Prime Ministers and 68 cabinets have held office since 1946. (e)
“Partly it is down to the rules of the political game, partly to the players,” writes Heinrich. (e) As far as the rules of the game are concerned, there are some differences compared with Germany. In Italy, the hurdles for withdrawing confidence from the government are lower. In Germany, by contrast, there is the ‘constructive vote of no confidence’, which is enshrined in the constitution. This means that parliament can only remove a chancellor from office if, at the same time, a new incumbent secures a majority of the votes. (f) Another difference is that parties form coalitions even before the elections in order to improve their chances of winning. (g) However, these electoral coalitions can fall apart immediately after the election.
In the First Republic, up until 1992, cabinets were said to have been unstable, but the party system was stable. (h) Today, the instability of the party system is compounded by that of the governments. The right-wing parties, in particular, are “very strongly centred on their respective leaders”, and party leaders tend to surround themselves primarily with loyal supporters. (i) Heinrich harbours no illusions about the players involved. It is also the “pitiful quality of a large part of the political class” that causes governments to fall so frequently.
Consequences for democracy – not only in Italy
To prevent the worst from happening, Italy’s President has, since the 1990s, had to appoint four technocratic governments, such as those led by Mario Monti or Mario Draghi. “An outsider is brought in to fix what those actually responsible keep messing up time and again.” (3) And populists from right to left all too often exploit this situation for their own ends.
Democracy remains intact at national level, but it is damaged. This must be regarded as a failure. Not only in Italy. As the political scientist Simon Bein puts it: “The loss of trust is the result of specific weaknesses in liberal democracies over the last thirty to forty years. These must be countered with a concrete capacity to solve problems and the everyday experience of democratic politics.” (4)
Sebastian Heinrich is right to hope that Italy is taken seriously. (j) There are many reasons for this, such as the country’s economic strength or its size. But to be taken seriously by others, one must take oneself seriously. An important step in this direction would be to exercise greater responsibility in national politics in future. This is as much to be hoped for in Italian party politics as it is for the country’s citizens – and the rest of Europe.
Margit Reiser-Schober
Error in the content? – Error in the translation? – eurolandpost (at) gmx.eu
- Podcast „Kurz gesagt: Italien“
https://kurzgesagt-italien.podigee.io/
- Autor Sebastian Heinrich und sein Buch „Kurz gesagt: Italien“
https://www.suhrkamp.de/person/sebastian-heinrich-p-17572
- S. 9
- S. 54
- S. 58
- S. 232
- S. 227
- S. 228
- S. 229
- S. 230
- S. 234
- S. 10
- Technokraten-Regierungen in Italien
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/mario-draghi-sind-technokraten-die-besseren-politiker-17194764.html
- Politikwissenschaftler Simon Bein:
https://www.nomos.de/quo-vadis-demokratie-perspektiven-zur-staerkung-der-demokratie/