Italy

Italy is the world''s sixth economic power lies in a key geopolitical position and was a founding member of NATO and the European Community. Yet of all the major European states Italy is the least understood and studied. This book provides the only up-to-date survey of the Italian political scene during the forty years since World War II. It describes the inner-dynamics of the political parties the day-to-day functioning of the governing institutions and the interaction of the country''s economic social and political life. It shows how a political system riven with difficulties and seemingly in a continual crisis survives and prospers - in some ways more successfully than its purportedly better-governed neighbours. Based on the authors'' first-hand observations of Italian politics the book offers a valuable insight into a subtle and complex but fascinating political world.