When Italy unified about 150 years ago, it was a political, not a cultural decision.
The division between North and South is a conflict with the identity of this country, but it's not the as simple as a line drawn across the boot.
Deeply Catholic, over the centuries, people identified themselves with those in the proximity of the local church, with the bell tower as a reference point, like an umbrella lifted by a tourist guide in order to keep the flock united. Campanile is a bell tower in Italian, campanilismo is, therefore, the term coined to describe the allegiances people have to their local areas. Although religion has played a big part in shaping cultural identities, the main catalyst for these divisions is the territory. The geography of the land has shaped the Italian way of life more than any invading power, political and religious force. It's a divisive land. To go from the west coast near Rome to the east coast of the Abruzzi region you have to cross mountains; the same happens if you need to transfer goods from the port in Genoa to the factories in Milan. There are alpine communities as well as maritime cultures, fertile plains, cold areas, hot areas... each with their own identity. Not one part of Italy is too similar to its neighbour's.
Even at the time of the Roman Empire, the population was not homogeneous but made up of several kingdoms, tribes, fiefdoms. In fact, the kingdoms within the Italian peninsula have been at their most powerful and influential around the time of the Renaissance, when a feudal system controlled the land through various wealthy families, like Medici, Sforza, Borgia. So the divisions are not just between the wealthy North and the struggling South but between regions, provinces, cities, towns, quarters, streets, bars; even flats in a condominium have their little councils with their various rivalries.
Italians do love Italy though, especially when it's time to defend it, be it in sport, in politics or in the economy.
But Italian is a broad term, one loved at times of sporting events but hardly recognised in other sections of society. For instance, Italian cuisine is not a single entity; food cooked in Rome has different ingredients, recipes and names than in Venice or Florence; newspapers always carry local pages; there are countless regional television channels. These compartments in society are reflected in the way Italian politics is conducted.
Italian politics is not about the parties, it's about the individuals because that's how we grow up: there's the football expert at the bar, the administrator of the condominium, the local priest, the Mayor... all figures of power, the ones people will listen because they have to, mostly.
This is why parties never last, why they change name or political current, movement. It's because leaders within them change allegiances, argue to be the one in charge, ambitions touch on different shoulders, greed perhaps takes over. It's easier to move around coalitions when an individual is a party, he/she does not need to take ideologies ingrained over decades with them but simply followers. Italy tried to stick to big party politics for decades, helped by post-war American and Soviet funds and influences. Christian Democrats on one side, Communist Party on the other. Then with the cold war over and the gathering of the electorate from both the left and the right, the order of things crumbled, revealing enormous levels of corruption and criminal activities. The corruption and financial scandals of the Socialist Party led by former Prime Minister Craxi and internal unrest between Christian Democrats factions all but ended the first experiment of democracy. This led to the parliament defaulting and the rise of individuals who tried to form their own parties. These, over the last 30 years have changed named, sometimes sides, resulting in a plethora of smaller entities at times held in a fragile coalition of sorts.
So the constant changing of chairs in Parliament or the merry-go-round of Prime Ministers is not as worrying as it looks. Chaos has its own charm and path, you only need to drive in central Rome to see the miracle of chaos in action... somehow it works. It's all about mediation, compromise, improvisation and a bit of luck too. Ok, it doesn't always work, but it doesn't have long-lasting repercussions when things do go wrong, because the damage is localised.
Berlusconi seized the opportunity to rise in politics while Italy's political identity was lost to years of corruption. People were disaffected by their representatives, let down by years of corruption and greed. Berlusconi seemed fresh, not a politician, a successful entrepreneur and more importantly, his AC Milan had won everything there was to win! Surely he could not fail. Then it all came out, the mafia connections, the systemic corruption used to grow his media empire, the immunity from prosecution he secured by becoming Prime Minister. The centre-left in-fighting has been even worse. Never with a clear leader, they have failed countless times to fight as a united front in opposition or in the short spells in government. But Italy didn't buckle under the weight of failure, it simply carried on with football-style substitutions.
Italy hasn't succeeded either.
The individual is still number one when it comes to politics. Ideologies have been replaced by promises and parties by personalities. No real responsibility is bestowed upon them as they can leave, regroup, reform with a different outlook. Populism and social media allow for a more direct, aggressive and unchecked type of politics, and a more dangerous one because it strikes at the core of people's primal fears, regardless of the actual impact on people's lives on either side of the arguments.
Clear change is needed like at the time of the Clean Hands investigation when the parliament almost had to start from scratch. Someone new needs to show up with a clear sign for change but without stuffing it down people's throats like some are trying now. But I'm guessing that in a society infatuated by x-factor/love island-style evictions (and not only in Italy), where popularity and populism are more important than substance, change is also a long way off yet.
