Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power, and Patrimony

Abstract

Silvio Berlusconi, a family man with a taste for the good life, owner of a huge television empire and, most recently, the man who likened a German MEP to a Nazi camp commander...small wonder that much of liberal Europe and America has responded with considerable dismay and some mirth to his governance of Italy. Paul Ginsborg, a leading commentator on contemporary Italy, explains here why we should take Berlusconi seriously. Combining historical narrative - Berlusconi's childhood in the dynamic and paternalist Milanese bourgeoisie, his strict, religious schooling, a working life which has encompassed singing on Mediterranean cruise ships and the bankrolling of construction projects - with analysis of Berlusconi's political development, he shows how the Italian example is highly instructive for modern societies everywhere. What Berlusconi represents - the relationship between the media system and politics, the nature of personal dominion at a time of crisis in representative democracy, the connection between the consumer world, families and politics, and the weaknesses of modern left-wing politics - are, Ginsborg suggests, near-universal; and we would do well to consider traits frequently ascribed to Berlusconi like spregiudicatezza, deft footing in the world of secret deals, and a sense of clan, as not specifically Italian.

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