The debate in 1999 on how to finance the Italian party system centred
on two aberrations from the European norm that are linked to
the wider issue of the unfinished transition of the Italian political
system. The first of these aberrations is that the Italian political
class has yet to find a definitive remedy for the illegal funding of
the country’s political parties. Although public funding has been
envisaged since the law of 1974, subsequent legislation has
always been determined by circumstances and has never
addressed the real needs of parties. The second problem concerns
the control of three television channels by the state, on the one
hand, and of three further channels by a media entrepreneur and
political leader, Silvio Berlusconi, on the other. In the opinion of
many observers, this situation comprises an interweaving of interests
harmful to democratic pluralism.
