Tangentopoli
Encyclopedia
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite
investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.
widespread and success based on personal acquaintances rather than merit. While these claims are somewhat simplistic generalizations, they were not a bad approximation of the real picture.
, Bettino Craxi
, is often taken as a typical example, since he had a permanent residence in an expensive hotel in Rome
's centre and also owned a villa in Hammamet
, Tunisia
. Descriptions of the villa range from a castle with an 18-hole golf course to a relatively modest seaside villas. Whatever the case, Craxi was, in keeping with the general image of Italian politics, living well beyond his means.
Another member of the Italian Socialist Party
, Rino Formica
, once made a statement has become remains proverbial: The friars are rich, but the monastery is poor.
, were likely to be influenced more by personal acquaintances than by competence. A popular saying may be translated as: "It does not matter what you know, it matters whom you know". Again, one of the most blatant cases was Bettino Craxi
's mistress, Sandra Milo
, making an impressive career in state television during the 1980s.
, ENEL
or ENI
to political figures, or at least managers with a clear political orientation. This usually trickled down to lower levels, creating power centres depending on political parties that controlled a significant part of the production system.
The available seats were usually awarded so that government parties (and opposition parties like the Italian Communist Party
) would get a share of power corresponding to their perceived influence in the government. Most people suspected that this "market" could hide less-than-clear interests, and also be a way to illegally accumulate capital by means of corruption and mismanagement. Sadly, the investigations of the early '90s proved these suspicions to be mostly true.
) which was always appointed to a member of the Democrazia Cristiana from 1948 to 1993. Furthermore, minor parties, such as the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, the Italian Liberal Party and the Italian Republican Party
, could often leverage their decisive contribution to attaining a parliamentary majority in order to be over-represented in terms of distributed seats.
This system resulted in a long series of incompetent ministers, who received their "seat" only because the Cencelli system calculated there was a gap to fill for a certain party. Among the least pleasantly remembered figures are: Paolo Cirino Pomicino
, Minister of the State Budget, a medical doctor who lacked any economic competence and was later sentenced on corruption charges; Francesco De Lorenzo, who was later found to be one of the most corrupt ministers of Public Health ever to take charge; and Giovanni Prandini, for similar reasons immediately dubbed Prendini (from the Italian
prendere, "to take").
All Italian parties had a large popular membership (the Communists more than two million members in 1956, the Christian Democrats almost the same by the early 1970s), recruited from organizations such as Catholic Action
, cooperatives, and trade unions. These organizations often provided tangible benefits —jobs, disability pensions, and cheap holidays— to their members. Most parties except the Communists were groupings of organized semi-official “factions” and each faction had its own leader, deputies, regional or ideological base, sources of finance, and journals. Within each party, factions vied for power and control of wealthy firms and agencies in the public sector of economy in order to secure financial backing and jobs for supporters. This was the essential reason why governments between 1945–94 were short-lived: governments had to be reshuffled regularly in order to allow different faction leaders to obtain posts. Government instability was encouraged by secret voting in Parliament, which enabled deputies from dissatisfied factions within the governing coalition parties to bring down the administration without attracting personal blame.
However, instability was often more apparent than real —key government posts were held semi-permanently by top politicians— and it was mitigated by the Secretaries of the leading parties, who negotiated acceptable deals among faction leaders. Indeed, party Secretaries were sometimes more influential than the Prime Minister, since the latter had no direct mandate from the electorate and was often not even the most prominent party member.
Italian politics is regarded as unstable, but throughout this period the parliamentary majority remained much the same, with the Democrazia Cristiana being the largest party, and the only change worth noting being the Socialists sharing government during the 1980s. The system was known as "imperfect bipolarism", as it was impossible for the only major opposition party, the Communists, to gain control of a NATO country. This was in marked and highly significant contrast with most Europe
an democracies
, as France
, Germany
and the United Kingdom
, where left-wing and right-wing alternated to power.
Nominally, Italy was ruled by a center, or center-left coalition, but the main opposition party, the Italian Communist Party, was in to the left of the government. Only the fascist
Movimento Sociale Italiano lay to the right. In practice, the Democrazia Cristiana collected most right-wing votes (apart from the small Partito Liberale Italiano (PLI) and the short-lived Monarchist Party), even though its orientation could be described as a center party looking to the left. Post-war, Italy's fascist past lent the term "right-wing" fascist connotations, and so was avoided. A center-right cabinet was formed by Fernando Tambroni
(DC) in the early sixties, obtaining the necessary parliamentary votes from the MSI: however, this soon led to widespread riots, culminating in the Genoa riots, and the cabinet lost its parliamentary confidence.
Most of the new governments that were formally continuously created, were really just adjustments, based on the Cencelli manual, carried out only after some event had changed the political scenario: typically, a large local election might indicate that some parties or some specific politicians had increased their power, requiring more government seats; this would however reduce someone else's share, and a delicate balance had to be struck. Negotiations for the formation of a new cabinet could take months, and given the short duration of these cabinets talks for the formation of the next one could sometimes be their main activity.
The uninterrupted tenure in office of many politicians contributed to the rise of a political class that ignored public opinion, as they were confident that the PCI would never receive a majority. The feeling of invulnerability and impunity was broken in 1992, when the Mani Pulite
investigation began. It is curious that it happened one year after the collapse of the Soviet Union
, possibly when the citizens did not consider it necessary anymore to keep certain politicians in office merely because they were anti-communist.
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...
investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.
Popular distrust of politics
Italians have often been sceptical of their own politicians. It is a common attitude throughout the country to consider the state inefficient, corruptionPolitical corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
widespread and success based on personal acquaintances rather than merit. While these claims are somewhat simplistic generalizations, they were not a bad approximation of the real picture.
Rich friars and poor monasteries
It was often observed that, while political parties (especially government members) were in a perennial state of need of money to organize their activities, many politicians were leading lifestyles beyond their means. The powerful secretary of the Italian Socialist PartyItalian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, is often taken as a typical example, since he had a permanent residence in an expensive hotel in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
's centre and also owned a villa in Hammamet
Hammamet
Hammamet is a town in Tunisia. Due to its beaches it is a popular destination for swimming and water sports. It was the first tourist destination in Tunisia...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. Descriptions of the villa range from a castle with an 18-hole golf course to a relatively modest seaside villas. Whatever the case, Craxi was, in keeping with the general image of Italian politics, living well beyond his means.
Another member of the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
, Rino Formica
Rino Formica
Salvatore Formica , best known as Rino Formica, is an Italian former politician.-Biography:Formica was born in Bari....
, once made a statement has become remains proverbial: The friars are rich, but the monastery is poor.
Recommendations
It was obvious that careers in state conglomerates, especially public television RAIRAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, were likely to be influenced more by personal acquaintances than by competence. A popular saying may be translated as: "It does not matter what you know, it matters whom you know". Again, one of the most blatant cases was Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
's mistress, Sandra Milo
Sandra Milo
Sandra Milo is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ and Juliet of the Spirits, winning a Silver Ribbon best supporting actress award for each film.-Career:...
, making an impressive career in state television during the 1980s.
Lottizzazione
The term lottizzazione, meaning the way a terrain is divided up in minor parts or lotti, came to indicate the procedure of awarding guidance of such important state conglomerates as IRIIstituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale was an Italian public company set up by the fascist government in 1933 to combat the effects of the global depression on the Italian economy...
, ENEL
Enel
Enel may refer to:*Enel SpA, an Italian electricity company*Enel , a fictional villain in the One Piece manga and anime series*Enel, meaning third in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, cf. Awakening of the Elves...
or ENI
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
to political figures, or at least managers with a clear political orientation. This usually trickled down to lower levels, creating power centres depending on political parties that controlled a significant part of the production system.
The available seats were usually awarded so that government parties (and opposition parties like the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
) would get a share of power corresponding to their perceived influence in the government. Most people suspected that this "market" could hide less-than-clear interests, and also be a way to illegally accumulate capital by means of corruption and mismanagement. Sadly, the investigations of the early '90s proved these suspicions to be mostly true.
The Cencelli Manual
When forming a government, a set of rules, often dubbed Manuale Cencelli from the name of a politician particularly good at this, used to be applied. Governing parties received ministries and charges (collectively dubbed as seats) according to their electoral weight. Some seats were less important than others (e.g., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was more important than the Ministry of the Environment). Some were permanently linked to a party, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the Italian Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
) which was always appointed to a member of the Democrazia Cristiana from 1948 to 1993. Furthermore, minor parties, such as the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, the Italian Liberal Party and the Italian Republican Party
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...
, could often leverage their decisive contribution to attaining a parliamentary majority in order to be over-represented in terms of distributed seats.
This system resulted in a long series of incompetent ministers, who received their "seat" only because the Cencelli system calculated there was a gap to fill for a certain party. Among the least pleasantly remembered figures are: Paolo Cirino Pomicino
Paolo Cirino Pomicino
Paolo Cirino Pomicino is an Italian politician, and was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2006 General election representing the Christian Democracy for Autonomies.-Biography:Cirino Pomicino was born in Naples...
, Minister of the State Budget, a medical doctor who lacked any economic competence and was later sentenced on corruption charges; Francesco De Lorenzo, who was later found to be one of the most corrupt ministers of Public Health ever to take charge; and Giovanni Prandini, for similar reasons immediately dubbed Prendini (from the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
prendere, "to take").
A stable instability
Looking at the list of Italian prime ministers since the end of the Second World War, it is evident that most governments were short-lived, lasting 11 months on average. The shortest of them lasted just three days.All Italian parties had a large popular membership (the Communists more than two million members in 1956, the Christian Democrats almost the same by the early 1970s), recruited from organizations such as Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
, cooperatives, and trade unions. These organizations often provided tangible benefits —jobs, disability pensions, and cheap holidays— to their members. Most parties except the Communists were groupings of organized semi-official “factions” and each faction had its own leader, deputies, regional or ideological base, sources of finance, and journals. Within each party, factions vied for power and control of wealthy firms and agencies in the public sector of economy in order to secure financial backing and jobs for supporters. This was the essential reason why governments between 1945–94 were short-lived: governments had to be reshuffled regularly in order to allow different faction leaders to obtain posts. Government instability was encouraged by secret voting in Parliament, which enabled deputies from dissatisfied factions within the governing coalition parties to bring down the administration without attracting personal blame.
However, instability was often more apparent than real —key government posts were held semi-permanently by top politicians— and it was mitigated by the Secretaries of the leading parties, who negotiated acceptable deals among faction leaders. Indeed, party Secretaries were sometimes more influential than the Prime Minister, since the latter had no direct mandate from the electorate and was often not even the most prominent party member.
Italian politics is regarded as unstable, but throughout this period the parliamentary majority remained much the same, with the Democrazia Cristiana being the largest party, and the only change worth noting being the Socialists sharing government during the 1980s. The system was known as "imperfect bipolarism", as it was impossible for the only major opposition party, the Communists, to gain control of a NATO country. This was in marked and highly significant contrast with most Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an democracies
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, as France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where left-wing and right-wing alternated to power.
Nominally, Italy was ruled by a center, or center-left coalition, but the main opposition party, the Italian Communist Party, was in to the left of the government. Only the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Movimento Sociale Italiano lay to the right. In practice, the Democrazia Cristiana collected most right-wing votes (apart from the small Partito Liberale Italiano (PLI) and the short-lived Monarchist Party), even though its orientation could be described as a center party looking to the left. Post-war, Italy's fascist past lent the term "right-wing" fascist connotations, and so was avoided. A center-right cabinet was formed by Fernando Tambroni
Fernando Tambroni
Fernando Tambroni Armaroli was an Italian politician of the Christian Democratic Party. He was a lawyer, a prominent supporter of law and order policies, and for a brief time in 1960, the 37th Prime Minister of Italy...
(DC) in the early sixties, obtaining the necessary parliamentary votes from the MSI: however, this soon led to widespread riots, culminating in the Genoa riots, and the cabinet lost its parliamentary confidence.
Most of the new governments that were formally continuously created, were really just adjustments, based on the Cencelli manual, carried out only after some event had changed the political scenario: typically, a large local election might indicate that some parties or some specific politicians had increased their power, requiring more government seats; this would however reduce someone else's share, and a delicate balance had to be struck. Negotiations for the formation of a new cabinet could take months, and given the short duration of these cabinets talks for the formation of the next one could sometimes be their main activity.
The uninterrupted tenure in office of many politicians contributed to the rise of a political class that ignored public opinion, as they were confident that the PCI would never receive a majority. The feeling of invulnerability and impunity was broken in 1992, when the Mani Pulite
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...
investigation began. It is curious that it happened one year after the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, possibly when the citizens did not consider it necessary anymore to keep certain politicians in office merely because they were anti-communist.