Epilogue: The Fly in the Bottle

Abstract

In its 150-year search for “normality,” Italy has used up most if not all the historical options available to it. Berlusconi’s hypopolitical path—the sanctification of “society as it is” on the assumption that it was already liberal—did not work, because the assumption was a fiction. However, the failure of Berlusconism should not allow us to forget the failure of the historical options that had been tried before. If Berlusconi has been able to garner such widespread support, it has been because he appeared on the scene after various forms of hyperpolitics had failed. The unexpected results of the February 2013 elections demonstrate that Italians have perceived the fiasco of all the political programs that have been tried since 1994.