The story of Italy in the context of corruption is complicated
for many reasons:-
● The north and south do not operate in
tandem: Having been subjected to different modes of governance historically
(In the paper, The Determinants
of Corruption in Italy: Regional Panel Data Analysis, Monte and
Papagni trace several more reasons for this divide) – the north with its strong
independent city-states like Venice, Milan, etc., and the south almost always
with a far-away, absent central authority – ‘corruption’ was/is more rampant in
the South than the North
● Edward C. Banfield’s Amoral Familism in
South Italy: In 1955, during his visit to a poor south Italian town,
Banfield noticed a peculiar Italian phenomenon, which he terms, Amoral
Familism. In the Moral Basis of A
Backward Community, he justifies his term as such: Such
backwardness is explained
‘largely but not entirely by the inability of the villagers to act together for
their common good or, indeed, for any end transcending the immediate, material
interest of the nuclear family’
●
Nepotismo
and Clientelismo: Both these terminologies have their origins in the
Italian culture of Papacy: nepos as
‘nephew’ or ‘grandson’ and client as
‘patronage’ or ‘follower’. The patron-son relationship is the basis of Italian
tradition and is considered by many scholars as the sustaining bedrock of
Italian society as opposed to Italian corruption. To quote Francis Fukuyama in The Two Europes,
“Clientelism should be distinguished from corruption proper because of the
relationship of reciprocity that exists between politicians and voters. There
is a real degree of accountability in a clientelistic system: the politician
has to give something back to supporters if he or she is to stay in power,
even if that is a purely private benefit.”
This ambiguity regarding the ambit of the definition of
corruption in Italy is best revealed when seen in the context of Parentopoli
and Berlusconi.
●
Professor Luigi Frati, the Rector of La Sapienza
University in Rome, had appointed his wife, daughter and son (all from very
modest academic backgrounds) in positions of great academic qualifications in his
University. Popularly titled as the ‘Parentopoli’
or ‘Relative-gate’ incident, it highlights the grey area of Italian corruption,
invoking responses from him thusly, "In Italy we are not used to being
meritocratic through strictly objective criteria. We are used to doing it our
own way."
●
Similarly, despite incriminating evidences –
near-complete ownership of Italian media houses; obvious economic ties with
mafia families; several allegations of sexual assault and tax-fraud convictions
– Silvio Berlusconi. still had/has a huge popularity in
Italy having been the longest serving post-war Prime Minister. According to the
Economist, his ardent disavower, “Instead they (the people) offer the excuse
that the fault is not his; it is their unreformable country's.”
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