Giuseppe Di Palma's Surviving Without Governing examines the paradox of postwar Italian politics, where a system of social and economic upheaval is marked by chronic instability yet surprising endurance. The book traces how Italy weathered a turbulent period of labor unrest, student mobilization, terrorism, and economic malaise, while its governments struggled to provide continuity and authority. Di Palma situates these developments within Italy's broader reputation as Europe's grande malade, highlighting the deep contradictions of a society simultaneously modernizing and fragmenting. The inability of Italian parties to forge stable governing coalitions, even in the era of the much-heralded Center-Left, undermined efforts at reform and fueled widespread disaffection. However, he also underscores the resilience of Italian society, pointing to rapid secularization, expanded civil liberties, and grassroots participation as countercurrents to political malaise.

Format: Hardback
Length: 316 pages
Publication date: 27 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

Surviving Without Governing: The Italian Parties in Parliament by Giuseppe Di Palma examines the paradox at the heart of postwar Italian politics: a system of extraordinary social and economic upheaval marked by chronic instability and yet surprising endurance. Written in the midst of the 1970s political crisis, the book traces how Italy weathered a turbulent period of labor unrest, student mobilization, terrorism, and economic malaise, while its governments—thirty-four since the end of the war—struggled to provide continuity and authority. Di Palma situates these developments within Italy's broader reputation as Europe's grande malade, highlighting the deep contradictions of a society simultaneously modernizing and fragmenting. At the center of this study is the role of Parliament as both a crucible of political conflict and a key institution hampered by unresolved tensions between majority and opposition. Di Palma shows how the inability of Italian parties to forge stable governing coalitions, even in the era of the much-heralded Center-Left, undermined efforts at reform and fueled widespread disaffection. Yet he also underscores the resilience of Italian society, pointing to rapid secularization, expanded civil liberties, and grassroots participation as countercurrents to political malaise. Surviving Without Governing offers a penetrating analysis of the Italian political systems performance, illuminating how parties, institutions, and society negotiated an ongoing crisis that continues to inform debates on governance, legitimacy, and democracy in Europe. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a ba.

Surviving Without Governing: The Italian Parties in Parliament by Giuseppe Di Palma

Surviving Without Governing: The Italian Parties in Parliament by Giuseppe Di Palma examines the paradox at the heart of postwar Italian politics: a system of extraordinary social and economic upheaval marked by chronic instability and yet surprising endurance. Written in the midst of the 1970s political crisis, the book traces how Italy weathered a turbulent period of labor unrest, student mobilization, terrorism, and economic malaise, while its governments—thirty-four since the end of the war—struggled to provide continuity and authority. Di Palma situates these developments within Italy's broader reputation as Europe's grande malade, highlighting the deep contradictions of a society simultaneously modernizing and fragmenting.

At the center of this study is the role of Parliament as both a crucible of political conflict and a key institution hampered by unresolved tensions between majority and opposition. Di Palma shows how the inability of Italian parties to forge stable governing coalitions, even in the era of the much-heralded Center-Left, undermined efforts at reform and fueled widespread disaffection. Yet he also underscores the resilience of Italian society, pointing to rapid secularization, expanded civil liberties, and grassroots participation as countercurrents to political malaise.

Surviving Without Governing offers a penetrating analysis of the Italian political systems performance, illuminating how parties, institutions, and society negotiated an ongoing crisis that continues to inform debates on governance, legitimacy, and democracy in Europe.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a ba.

Weight: 635g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520364615