Fuel for the Fire- Corruption and the End of the First Republic [BLOG POST 2]

By Jacob Braun

Former Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Craxi, Unknown Author, via WikiMedia Commons Public Domain

For the first time since the Second World War, a Socialist Party in Italy came to power with Benedetto “Bettino” Craxi as its Prime Minister in 1983. With promises of reform and continued efforts to improve the economy from a devastating recession, the situation in Italy seemed to be getting better as the Years of Lead came to a close. Corruption and scandal would rock the Craxi government, putting an end to the First Republic and giving rise to a new, populist type of politician.

DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Under the Craxi government, Italian inflation rates would drastically be reduced in tandem with the reduction of the indexation of wages. However, the growth of the economy spurred on by this change would incur unsustainable fiscal deficits, plunging Italy into a long-lasting cycle of debt repayment. All the while, Prime Minister Craxi lived an opulent lifestyle at the hotel Raphael while regular Italians struggled to make ends meet with an increasingly weakening Lira.

Benedetto Craxi being greeted by a salvo of coins, Robin Alves, via WikiMedia Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

DEATH OF THE REPUBLIC

In 1987, the Christian Democrat party withdrew their support of the Craxi government resulting in Benedetto Craxi’s resignation as Prime Minister. In 1992 a nationwide corruption scandal would be uncovered, implicating many DC and PSI politicians. The political landscape would be changed forever, seeing the disappearance of the Christian Democrat and Socialist parties, among others implicated in the scandal. The Italian First Republic was decidedly dead— but a new type of politician was looking to pick up the pieces and build back a better Second Republic.

THE RIGHT-WING RE-EMERGES

A media tycoon and coincidentally a friend of Benedetto Craxi, Silvio Berlusconi would become Prime Minister of Italy in 1994. The centre-right in a coalition with the Northern League and the National Alliance would take power on a platform of anti-corruption, guaranteed freedoms and small government. Populism took its hold on Italian politics with Berlusconi, paving the way for a wider populist movement within the European Union moving into the 21st century. The Second Republic would begin out of disdain for the First— was populism thus destined to take root in Italy?