Paul Ginsborg - Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony

This book made available by the Internet Archive.

For my friends and colleagues of the Florentine 'Laboratorio per la democrazia'.

Acknowledgements

My heartfelt thanks to Silvia Alessandri and Christian De Vito for their help in the preparation of this text.

Glossary

What follows below is a list of the official terms and institutions which appear most frequently in the book. For ease of reading, the vast majority of terms appear throughout in English.

Chief Procurator Procuratore capo, the senior magistrate who directs the Office of Public Prosecution in every major city, and who assigns cases and responsibilities to the investigating magistrates of the same Office.

Christian Democrat party Democrazia cristiana, a political party of Catholic inspiration, founded in 1942, dominant in Italian politics from 1946 until 1992. Heavily implicated in the corruption investigations of the 'Clean Hands' campaign (q.v.), the party dissolved in January 1994. Surviving fragments are present in both the coalitions of the centre-left and the centre-right.

'Clean Hands' campaign 'Mani pulite', the popular name given to the series of judicial investigations launched in Milan in 1992, which uncovered a widespread network of corruption and illegal financing of political parties. The investigations led to charges being

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brought against many well-known Italian businessmen and politicians, some of whom were eventually sentenced by the courts.

CGIL Confederazione generate italiana del lavoro, the oldest and largest of the Italian trade-union organisations, it now numbers some five and a half million members. The CGIL is left-wing in political orientation and its present general secretary is Guglielmo Epifani. The previous secretary was Sergio Cofferati, who held the post from 1994 to 2002.

CISL Confederazione italiana sindacati lavoratori, the second largest trade-union organisation in the country, with just over four million members. Moderate and Catholic in orientation, its general secretary is Savino Pezzotta.

Constitutional Court Corte costituzionale. Instituted in 1956, it has the task of ajudicating disputes relative to the constitutional legitimacy of laws. It is composed of fifteen judges.

Cassation Court Corte di Cassazione, the third and highest level of the Italian judiciary system, dealing with all areas except constitutional ones. After the Court of Appeal (q.v.) has passed sentence in a case, both defence and prosecution have the right to appeal to the higher court, which rules on the legitimacy of sentences, but not on their merit.

Council of Ministers Consiglio dei ministri, constituted by the President (q.v.) and ministers, who have varied in number in different phases of the Italian Republic's history. The present government of Silvio Berlusconi numbers twenty-three ministers.

Court of Appeal Corte d'Appello, the second level of the Italian judicial system, to which either defence or prosecution may appeal for revision of a sentence passed by a lower court.

Chamber of Deputies Camera dei deputati. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate make up the Italian parliament. The Chamber has 630 deputies, elected for a five-year span.

Financial Police Guardia di Finanza. This is a special corps which is dependent upon the Treasury Ministry but is also part of the armed forces of the state. Its principal tasks are the prevention and discovery of tax evasion, of contraband, and of financial violations of the law.

Fininvest. Since 1984 the overall name for Berlusconi's group of companies.

Forza Italia Forza Italia. The political party created by Silvio Berlusconi in 1994, which gained 29.5 percent of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies (q.v.) in the national elections of 2001, and thus emerged as Italy's largest single political force.

Higher Council of the Magistracy Consiglio superiore della magistratura. Instituted in 1958, the Council is the organ of self-government of the judiciary, and was envisaged by the Republican constitution of 1948 as a bulwark and safeguard of judicial autonomy. Its president is the President of the Republic (q.v.).

House of Liberties Casa delle liberta, a coalition of centre-right forces (Forza Italia, the National Alliance, the Northern League, and the Catholic UDC) which won the national elections of May 2001.

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Left Democrats Democratici di sinistra (DS), the major party of the left, formed after the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. It polled 16.6 percent of the votes in the national election of 2001. Its secretary is Piero Fassino and president Massimo D'Alema.

Montecitorio Palazzo di Montecitorio, a seventeenth-century palace in the heart of Rome, from 1871 the seat of the Chamber of Deputies.

National Alliance Alleanza Nazionale, right-wing coalition and then party, founded in 1994, with the aim of transforming the neo-Fascist MSI (Movimento Sociale Italianao) into a more moderate force with wider electoral appeal. Its president is Gianfranco Fini, and it polled 12 percent of the vote in the national elections of 2001.

Northern League Lega Nord, founded in 1991 by Umberto Bossi, a regionally based party which draws it support predominantly from Lombardy and Venetia. Anti-immigrant, it advocates strong regional autonomy and even advocated secession from the Italian state at one stage of its brief history. It polled 3.9 percent of the vote in 2001.

Olive Tree Coalition L'Ulivo, a centre-left coalition of forces, first led by Romano Prodi, which narrowly won the national elections of 1996, but lost those of 2001.

Palazzo Chigi Palazzo Chigi, a mainly seventeenth century palace, close to Montecitorio (q.v.), the official seat of the President of the Council of Ministers (q.v.).

President of the Council of Ministers Presidente del Con-siglio dei Ministri, the head of Italian government, directs and coordinates the activities of the executive in the context of the powers granted by the Republican constitution. In this book sometimes referred to for convenience as 'premier' or 'prime minister'.

President of Regional Government Presidente della Regione,

the head of the regional executive, wielding considerable and increasing power at the local level. Now sometimes called 'Governatore' (Governor), in recognition of this changing role.

President of the Republic Presidente della Repubblica, the

head of the Italian state and the guardian of the Republican constitution. The powers of the President are limited but crucial, and to differing degrees Presidents have always played an active role in Italian politics. The President is elected by members of parliament for a seven-year term in office.