The Italian Experience: Two Transitions (1943-1948; 1989-2001)

Abstract

The Italian experience offers the possibility to analyze two transitions. The first one, from authoritarianism to democracy, ocurred between 1943 and 1948 and gave life to a democratic regime, but because of internal and international reasons, with no option of alternation. Besides that, it’s a regime that is successful and that promotes economic development. The second transition, from 1989 until today, takes place within the democratic system, and runs between a republic based on political parties to another still not well designed or defined. Despite the international pressure, the Italian economic system has been satisfactorily maintained, particularly throughout policy dialogue. There are two lessons to consider from Italian transitions. The first is that, from a general perspective, the moderation of the players happened to be an extremely important resource. The second is that without a political and authorized leadership it is difficult to make a transition succeed.