Berlusconi is Self-Declared First in Rank
The Premier Asserts Himself As the Best President in Italian History
Oct 11, 2009
After an arduous series of questions about recent scandals concerning the private life of the Italian President of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi affirmed, without any hesitation, himself to be “by far the best president of the council in 150 years of Italian history” (since unification in 1861). This was the answer when asked by a journalist from Spanish daily newspaper El Pais if he should resign over recent scandals.
Berlusconi and the Italian Political System
No doubt Berlusconi will forever be etched in the history of Italy, but possibly not for the reason that he immodestly attributed to himself. Different reasons support the entrance of Berlusconi in the empyrean of Italian premiers.
Berlusconi will be remembered for the change that his candidature represented in the Italian political system. The premier invented a winning political party and forced the party system to a bipolar logic of competition that never had great success in the past in Italy. Berlusconi has been in the position longer than the other republican premiers and has allowed the right side of the party system to have a stabile representation.
The Most Important Prime Minister, a Brief Comparison
Camillo Benso Count of Cavour had less time in office than Berlusconi but in this case it increased the greatness of the Italian Nation builder. Cavour built a liberal State when all other European governments believed that it was impossible to realize and more to maintain alive a State in Italy.
Cavour’s abilities in international relations made it possible for a little State like the Kingdom of Sardinia to start a process that ended with the realization of an ancient dream: the birth of an Italian National State after centuries of foreign domination.
Giovanni Giolitti led Italy towards modernity with his change at the beginning of the past century. Giolitti closed the phase of repressive policies against the trade unions and gave them the right to represent the working class in the Italian Liberal State.
Giolitti was also able to fill the cleavage between the Roman church and The Kingdom of Italy. The conflict, generated with the annexation of Rome, was detrimental to the stabilization of Italian institutions. Among his more important accomplishments, Giolitti introduced the right to vote for all Italian men.
Alcide De Gasperi and the Miracle of Italian Economy
Probably the hardest to surpass will be Alcide De Gasperi. The Catholic leader drove Italy to a new political era after defeat in the Second World War. Italy was a destroyed country, which also had a civil war going on in the north. De Gaperi stabilized a democracy and a capitalist system while the prevalent political cultures were anti-capitalist and illiberal.
The consequent “miracle” of the Italian economy, that realized the greatest social transformation in Italian modern history, was due principally to the work of the Christian-Democrat leader who governed Italy from 1945 to 1953.
The way to reach the top position is hard and as stated by one of the most important Italian writers, Alessandro Manzoni, posterity will write the verdict.
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