Italy is experiencing in recent years a season of political instability and uncertainty, especially after the crisis of Silvio BerlusconiÕs leadership in the centre-right camp. A situation which has not improved after the results of the general election held in February 2013, whose overall outcome can be described as a dangerous stalemate. A new, anti-establishment party becoming the largest party with 25,6% of votes; the absence of any cohesive political majority in the Senate (whose vote of confidence is required); the installation of a government based on an oversized, hardly manageable political majority, led by Enrico Letta.
How did all this happen? First answers to this question are presented in this book, which collects revised versions of short research notes published in Italian on the CISE (Italian Center for Electoral Studies) website between February and April 2013, along with additional material published in Italian and English by CISE scholars on the Italian and international media.