Berlusconism and the Modern State
Wednesday 15 July 2009By EU Reporter Correspondents
Italian TV news failed to adequately report on the latest scandal surrounding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – namely, the alleged attempt by a real estate manager to bribe the premier using women instead of money. The newspaper La Repubblica, which has extensively covered the story, pointed out that 4 Italians out of 5 do not read newspapers, but rely entirely on the TV for news. This may be in common with international trends, but in Italy it is a reason for serious concern as 85% of major Italian TV news providers are owned by Silvio Berlusconi.
It is part of Italian culture to take an 'anti-scandal' perspective on happenings, especially if they are unrelated to political performance. It is also true that the non-existence of a decent political opposition in Italy has contributed to the deterioration of political accountability and transparency and that this has been reflected in the quality of information available to citizens. The character that media communication has taken in Italy is not consistent with the model of democratic government - it holds more resemblance to the propaganda commonly used in developing countries or in Europe in previous years. But this is not yet the worst that Italy can expect from its media.
The English press, always keen on scandals and rumours about the private lives of public figures, confesses its astonishment for the fact that Berlusconi will not resign. The mere fact that the personal behaviour of a politician might or might not constitute ground for resignation is central to the question.
In fact, from a Berlusconian point of view, there is no reason to resign. Berlusconi owes his popularity to extending his business management style to his public functions. The people who vote for him like him because they consider him to be a 'smart guy', because he made a lot of money and because he is alien to stuffy State ceremonial. He uses 'common sense' to waive burdensome bureaucratic procedures and achieves new forms of efficiency, e.g. obtaining an unprecedented amount of funding from the European Institutions to help with solving domestic issues.
But, above all, he is 'fun'. This is the rationale behind the jokes he is famous for during diplomatic gatherings. This is also explains some of his claims, like the pledge to reduce the number of Parliamentarians and the fact that any scandal or objection he encounters is rebuked as a manifestation of personal envy from the poorer, less successful and disorganized Italian left winger.
But, by doing so – through its anti-bureaucratic, anti-ceremonialist, private-sector approach to politics - Berlusconi is eroding the structures which are essential to the modern State, and which in any case may be already weaker in Italy than in other European countries, due to the historical fragmentation of the country and to the survival of a powerful anti-state organization within its territory (for which, read: Mafia).
When the Parliament is dismissed as boring, and too expensive, the judges are mocked, and, on the other side, Berlusconi surrounds himself with an virtually non-existent party and insignificant or flattering co-operators, and proposes himself as a candidate not because of his programme, but because of his personality, then there is no point in being too surprised that he proceeds to appoint personal friends to public positions, or that he behaves unconventionally with respect to his public role.
Italians have called for this exactly, as his support relies on his ability to 'win' external negotiations and to be 'the smart guy of the group'.
This pattern has a very dangerous side-effect in the long run, which is the lack of support that Italians give their own State, which paradoxically helps Berlusconi's game. If you talk of politics with an Italian, many will in some form blame Berlusconi, complain about the decline of the nation and claim they distrust the State. Such attitudes appear often to apologise for being Italian, rather than for having a particular Prime Minister or government.
The concepts of Berlusconi and Italy are now becoming blurred, in the mind of Italians even more than in the mind of foreigners. This leads to a vicious circle. The more the modern State in Italy is despised as such by citizens, the more they are likely to see its institutions from a Berlusconian, managerial point of view and accept seeing them bypassed by the initiative of a 'strong man'.
What should be made clear is that the germ of the problem lies with Italian citizens themselves, who continue to choose to despise their country by voting in someone who is happy to make it ridiculous. Instead of blaming circumstances they should instead re-think their approach and become clearer about what they want from politics. Of course, Berlusconi’s TV news will not help this process develop.
FROM THE JULY 2009 PRINT EDITION