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Is Italian democracy in danger?
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is not only Italy's richest man, but also the unrivaled owner of a vast media empire. Critics suggest that Berlusconi's combination of political power and editorial control have endangered freedom of the press in Italy. Learn more about the breadth (and limits) of Berlusconi's power in Italy, his standing in the rest of Europe, and more in this week's Briefing (below).
Does Berlusconi Threaten Italian Democracy?
By Crispian Balmer
August 1, 2003
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On a balmy night in May, Italian soccer team AC Milan won Europe's prestigious Champions League final in Manchester, England. The match was shown live on Italy's Canale 5 television station and was watched by a record 20 million people. This in turn generated record-breaking advertising revenues for the broadcaster. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was one of the lucky few who managed to see the game from the stadium, and every so often his smiling face flashed up on TV screens around the country.
He had every reason to smile. He owns AC Milan, he owns Canale 5 and he also owns the company that placed the advertising.
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| 1922 |
Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, at the invitation of King Victor Emmanuel III, becomes prime minister of Italy.
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| 1943 |
Following the Allied invasion of Italy, Mussolini is removed from power and jailed. In 1945, he is recaptured and executed.
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| 1946 |
Italy becomes a republic. The Christian Democrats top the June elections; they will hold the post of prime minister for the next 35 years.
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| 1978 |
Aldo Moro, a leader of the Christian Democrats, is kidnapped and later executed by the Red Brigades, a left-wing extremist group.
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| 1993 |
A new electoral law replaces proportional representation with a mixture of proportional and direct voting.
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| 2001 |
Silvio Berlusconi becomes the 59th Italian premier since World War II. His first term as prime minister, in 1994, lasted only eight months.
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It is difficult to overstate the influence Berlusconi has on everyday Italian life. Besides running the country, he also enjoys direct and indirect control over 90 percent of national television, he has built up Italy's biggest publishing house, controls its biggest film distribution network, and has major interests in the financial services and real estate sectors.
You might think that such a vast array of responsibilities would more than satisfy Berlusconi. Well, you would be wrong. The billionaire businessman-cum-politician thinks that the office of prime minister in Italy does not carry enough authority and is pushing to rewrite the constitution accordingly. In a way, he is right.
Born from the rubble of World War Two, the Italian constitution was specifically designed to weaken the power of the executive and prevent the rise of another strongman, such as fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
As prime minister, Berlusconi cannot fire his ministers, cannot dissolve parliament, and is at the mercy of junior coalition partners who can bring the government down at any moment if they don't get their way. Berlusconi stands on the right of the Italian political center -- he believes strongly in free markets and rails against communism at any opportunity -- yet his four-party coalition includes the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale and the populist Lega Nord.
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Inside This Episode
 For background on Italian political history since World War II, explore the Timeline.
Examine Italian media access through the Info-graphic.
Then test your knowledge on the Interactive Challenge, which looks at press freedom in Italy -- and across the globe.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. Photo by Alberto Ramella.
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