Surviving Without Governing

Surviving Without Governing: The Italian Parties in Parliament by Giuseppe Di Palma examines the paradox at the heart of postwar Italian politics: a system of extraordinary social and economic upheaval, marked by chronic instability and yet surprising endurance. Written in the midst of the 1970s political crisis, the book traces how Italy weathered a turbulent period of labor unrest, student mobilization, terrorism, and economic malaise, while its governments—thirty-four since the end of the war—struggled to provide continuity and authority. Di Palma situates these developments within Italy’s broader reputation as Europe’s grande malade, highlighting the deep contradictions of a society simultaneously modernizing and fragmenting.

At the center of this study is the role of Parliament as both a crucible of political conflict and a key institution hampered by unresolved tensions between majority and opposition. Di Palma shows how the inability of Italian parties to forge stable governing coalitions, even in the era of the much-heralded Center-Left, undercut efforts at reform and fueled widespread disaffection. Yet he also underscores the resilience of Italian society, pointing to rapid secularization, expanded civil liberties, and grassroots participation as countercurrents to political malaise. Surviving Without Governing offers a penetrating analysis of the Italian political system’s performance, illuminating how parties, institutions, and society negotiated an ongoing crisis that continues to inform debates on governance, legitimacy, and democracy in Europe.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1977.