The Blueshirts Mystery. A Formation of New Political Parties within a Stabilized Democracy Based on the Example of Silvio Berlusconi's 'Forza Italia'

Formed in 1993 by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian party, 'Forza Italia', is not only a case, rare in a stabilized democracy, of a political party formed from the ground up, but also an example of a grouping for whom the institutionalization which is characteristic of every party newly come into being is impossible. This is caused not only by the person of the charismatic leader who stands at its head and takes care that the party, through the process of bureaucratizing, does not begin to act as an self-contained structure, which would be contrary to its interests, but also by the fact that, using the example of 'Forza Italia' an attempt can be made to prove the claim that the time of traditional groupings, grounded in local structures and leaders, acting on the basis of debate on issues of program and within which a career is built via working one's way up the individual rungs of the party ladder, is over. 'Forza Italia' is a grouping which on the one hand subscribes to the model of an electoral party created by Otto Kirchheimer, but which, through adopting the manager/commander method characteristic of a cartel party according to Katz and Mair's definition, demonstrates that the activities of groupings geared towards success in politics are increasingly similar to those employed by companies and business concerns. FI is a specific hybrid, a party which might be called a grouping based on electoral marketing, geared towards the search for the largest number of followers supposed to guarantee its election success, and not towards building a lasting structure acting in the situation of a stabilized political stage, within the framework of which, whether in a coalition or in opposition, it is always in the 'system', has permanent access to the state's resources and employs the methods of marketing manuals to achieve its aims. This hybrid character allows the grouping to change strategies and react rapidly to the current situation as well as to voters' expectations. However, it does mean that the party does not move beyond the stage and tasks of the election committee; capably ensuring its leader's re-election during future votes.