Introduction: the problem of one-dimensionality

Any study of coalitional behaviour in Italian politics immediately encounters two very basic problems: the problem of coverage, the fact that this subject, despite its obvious importance to the functioning of Italy's political system, has been much neglected; and the problem of interpretation or the need for explaining the dynamics of what is commonly seen and often dismissed as a complex affair. Of these two, the key problem is that of interpretation; but looking briefly at both of them assists in developing a viable approach.

The main outcome so far of this neglect of Italian coalition politics has been to reinforce the popular image of confusion and encourage one-dimensional views. Judgements have either resorted to general assumptions, such as the typical comment of one journalist that ‘Italian governmental politics are a bizarre and Byzantine game whose details are followed only by the immediate players, while the rest of the world finds it difficult even to pretend to take an interest,’ or they have focussed on particular aspects and usually institutional procedures. For instance, one summary of the process of coalition formation in Italy commented as follows rather satirically: