Electoral Reform and the Transformation of Party Politics in Italy

Abstract

Advocates of the 1993 reform of the Italian parliamentary electoral system intended it profoundly to alter the structure of the party system and the relationships among parties, interests and voters. The content of the reform is summarized and the expectations raised by its advocates are reviewed and tested against the outcome of the 1994 parliamentary election. While Italian politics has changed dramatically on the surface, analysis of events before and since the election raises questions about the degree to which these developments can be attributed to the electoral reform, and about whether they really signal a fundamental change in the nature of Italian party politics.