Berlusconism

Other observers described it as more of a personality-driven populist movement, where "a billionaire businessman and television personality" pledges to use his unique skills to "represent the interests of ordinary people" against the political establishment; and where the "scandals, investigations, and trials" that follow him were dismissed by his passionately loyal base of supporters as evidence that he was "the most persecuted" person in history.

Origins and features

The term "Berlusconism" dates back to the 1980s, when Silvio Berlusconi was an entrepreneur not yet engaged in politics. At the time, it was used with a strongly positive connotation as a synonym for entrepreneurial optimism, referring to a business-minded spirit that is not discouraged by difficulties and remains confident in its ability to solve problems. Following Berlusconi's entry into politics in January 1994, the term underwent a significant shift in meaning within journalistic and political discourse.

According to the Italian definition given by the online vocabulary of the Encyclopedia Institute, Berlusconism has a wide range of meanings, all having their origins in the figure of Berlusconi and the political movement inspired by him: the substantive refers not only to the "thought movement", but also to the "social phenomenon" and even the phenomenon "of custom" bound to his entrepreneurial and political figure. The term Berlusconism is also used to refer to a certain laissez-faire vision supported by him, not only of the economy and the markets but also with reference to the same policy.

The emergence of Berlusconism as a social and political phenomenon has been linked by some analysts to the so-called "Italian anomaly", namely the coexistence of structural weaknesses affecting various aspects of Italian life, from society to politics and the economy (such as political patronage, clientelism, nepotism, and double standards). According to one scholar of contemporary Italian history, this relationship should be understood in the sense that Berlusconism is an expression and consequence of this anomaly, rather than its cause. In a similarly critical and broad sense, the term has been used by political scientist and historian Marco Revelli, former co-founder of Lotta Continua, to denote a style of politics and an underlying culture of self-legitimized wealth that permeates large segments of the nation, including much of the center-left leadership. In Revelli's analysis, there is an explicit parallel with the description of fascism as the "autobiography of the nation" by anti-fascist thinker Piero Gobetti, insofar as the movement of Benito Mussolini and Berlusconi himself would represent the most visible manifestations of deeply rooted negative tendencies within Italian society. French writer and journalist Jacques Martin wrote in an article published in The Guardian in 2006: "Berlusconism is the most serious attack on Western democracy since 1945; a phenomenon that cannot be ignored."

According to his political opponents and business rivals, Berlusconism is only a form of demagogic populism, comparable to fascism, stressing the fact that Berlusconi declared his admiration for Benito Mussolini, although he criticised the racial Fascist laws and the alliance with Nazi Germany, referring to himself as pro-Israel. In 2013, he returned to calling Mussolini a good leader whose biggest mistake was signing up to exterminate the Jews. His supporters instead compare Berlusconism to the French Gaullism and the Argentine Peronism.

In January 2007, Berlusconism was the subject of a conference organized by the Liberal Foundation, close to Forza Italia, with the aim of reclaiming the term in a particularly positive light. In a letter sent on 27 September 2008 by Sandro Bondi (Minister for Culture in the fourth Berlusconi government) to the newspaper la Repubblica, he wrote: "The so-called Berlusconism was first and foremost a response to the crisis of the Italian political system, which coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall and with Tangentopoli, and with the recognition of the inability/impossibility of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) to transform itself into a genuinely reformist and European-style political force. Secondly, Berlusconism has represented and continues to represent the highest attempt to modernize the economic and institutional structures of our country, based not on an ideology, but on a system of genuinely liberal and reformist values, which have also influenced European politics as a whole."