Editing Party system (section)

==== Italy ====
Italian party systems are usually considered only since the foundation of the [[Italian Republic]] (1946) as pre-[[fascist]] parties lacked a wide popular base.

The party system of the so-called ''First Republic'' (1948–1994), though based on a proportional electoral law, saw the dominance of the [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC) and the ''conventio ad excludendum'' against the [[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI). DC and PCI together gathered around 85% of the votes on average. The system was thus a blocked bipolar system; governments were very short (in average lasting less than one year) and post-electoral, but the supporting parties and personnel could not change.
With time, some parties (especially the [[Italian Socialist Party]], PSI) gained momentum, until reaching the role of government-making in the 1980s. The system was completely destroyed by the bribery scandals of [[Tangentopoli]], which shattered DC and PSI.
According to [[Sartori]], the two possible degenerations of [[proportionalism]] (fragmentation and lack of party discipline) were reduced by two factors: the strong role of parties ("''partitocrazia''") and the polarization between Christian-democrats and communists. Therefore, the ''first republic'' saw a maximum level of 5 effective parties, with only one dominant party.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Legge elettorale che cosa fare – Corriere della Sera|url=https://www.corriere.it/editoriali/10_novembre_07/sartori-che-fare_602ef5ea-ea47-11df-acba-00144f02aabc.shtml|access-date=2021-02-26|website=www.corriere.it}}</ref>

The so-called ''Second Republic'' party system (since 1994) bears the following characteristic marks:
* a majoritarian electoral law, introduced by referendum in 1993, which brought about a bi-polarization of the game (although limited by the 1/4 of votes still gathered proportionally)
* the birth of {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} as personal party of [[Silvio Berlusconi]], with a strong polarization effect
* the rise of new parties (the environmentalists [[Federation of the Greens|Verdi]] and the autonomist [[Lega Nord]] since the late 1980s, [[Alleanza Nazionale]] through a reform of the post-fascist [[Italian Social Movement]])
* the split of old parties (between reformed post-communist [[Democratic Party of the Left]] and neo-communists of [[Rifondazione Comunista]]; between left-wing and right-wing of old Christian Democrats and Socialists, siding with or against Berlusconi)
Though more fragmented in the number of parties, the system was bipolar in its functioning. With time, both sides saw a strengthening of coalitions (even if with ups and downs) and the birth of unified parties (the [[Ulivo]] federation and then the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]] on the left, and the [[People of Freedom]] party on the right side).
The change in the electoral law in 2005 and the return to proportionality (although with a majority premium able to transform, in the lower chamber, the plurality in a 55% majority) did not bring about a return to collusion, while still leaving such prospect open for the future.