Edited by Martyna Hanak and Alek Kahn

Introduction

On the 12th of June 2023, Silvio Berlusconi, one of Italy’s veteran politicians, passed away at the age of 86 in Milan due to a lung infection connected to leukaemia. He was the leader of Forza Italia, a centre-right group within the right-wing coalition currently ruling Italy, with Giorgia Meloni as premier.[1] With four terms in office (May 1994-January 1995; June 2001-April 2005; April 2005-May 2006; May 2008-November 2011), he was one of the country’s longest-serving prime ministers, after the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, whose regime lasted from 1922 until 1943, and Giovanni Giolitti who governed several times between 1892 and 1921.[2] His political career was marked by sexually-related scandals, corruption and even tax fraud. Known by his nickname il Cavaliere (the knight), he was seen as a kingmaker in Italian politics.[3] Undoubtedly, he shaped not just Italy’s political life but also its society through the control he held over three major television channels.[4] Some have argued that his success as a populist leader prepared the ground for politicians like Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson and the ex-US president Donald Trump.[5] His influence on global politics thus also deserves a closer look.

His rise to power

Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan in 1936 to a middle-class family. While pursuing a law degree at the city’s state university he worked as a singer on cruise ships, as a vacuum cleaner salesman and as a real estate agent. From his early work experiences Berlusconi concentrated on using his natural charm to win over anyone who was in front of him. This has also become a staple of his political career. After graduating in 1963, he started his own construction company, Edilnord Sas, which built a huge apartment complex outside Milan. However, the source of funding for the project has always been a mystery and Berlusconi’s right-hand man at the time, Marcello Dell’Utri, was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison due to links with the mafia. In order to expand his business, il Cavaliere took over some local TV stations (Canale 5, Rete 4, Italia 1) in the 1970s and 1980s and was able to convert them into national channels accessible to everyone in Italy with the help of politicians such as the Socialist Party leader and prime minister Bettino Craxi. These channels broke the monopoly of the state-owned RAI broadcaster and introduced Italians to a new style of television that aired American TV series, e.g. Dallas and Dynasty, and variety programmes with half-naked soubrettes. Berlusconi’s business empire would also comprise Mondadori, Italy’s largest publishing house, and even the football team AC Milan. By the time he died, his family fortune amounted to billions of euros, making him one of the country’s richest men.[6]

Berlusconi’s entry into politics coincided with a turbulent period in modern Italy. In the early 1990s the country was rocked by a series of corruption scandals (known as Tangentopoli or Bribesville) that revealed the illegal financing of the establishment parties at the time, including the Socialist Party. The fact that the investigations also targeted some of Berlusconi’s enterprises and the eventual inability of his friend Craxi to protect him forced the tycoon into starting his political career.[7] Although he always denied it, Berlusconi’s entry into politics was also motivated by the desire to gain parliamentary immunity in order to avoid prosecution for his non-transparent and illicit business conduct and corruption.[8] In doing so he took advantage of the anti-establishment sentiments that became widespread in the wake of Tangentopoli. This factor facilitated the appeal of “saviour” figures who could resolve the problems caused by politicians.[9] In 1994 he founded Forza Italia (‘Go Italy!’ or ‘Come on Italy!’), whose name referenced a chant heard during football matches. Furthermore, Berlusconi formed an electoral alliance with the neofascist Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement) and the Lega Nord (Northern League), a group that advocated separatism for Italy’s northern regions. Together they claimed to represent a new political movement and criticised elitist politicians.[10]

Berlusconi’s tenure in power (1994, 2001-2006, 2008-2011)

Eventually Berlusconi’s party and its allies won the 1994 parliamentary elections, forming the first right-wing government in post-WWII Italy.[11] Although it collapsed after seven months because of disagreements between il Cavaliere and the Lega Nord as well as an indictment against him for alleged tax fraud, this executive approved laws that safeguarded the Forza Italia leader and other major public officials from prosecution and increased profits for his enterprises.[12] Most importantly, the first Berlusconi government helped to legitimise the Lega Nord and the neofascists, since no other party wanted to have them as partners before.[13] This eventually led to a process of normalisation of the radical right in Italy, strengthened by Berlusconi’s nomination of neofascists to important positions and trivialisation of Mussolini’s misdeeds, culminating in Giorgia Meloni’s electoral victory in 2022.[14]

After losing the 1996 parliamentary elections to a centre-left coalition, Berlusconi returned to power in 2001 with his previous allies, including the Lega Nord, before becoming the first Italian prime minister to complete a full five-year mandate in 2006. He regained the position in 2008, but his term in office was cut short by the economic crisis that engulfed the country.[15] Although it was clear that Italy was a victim of the global recession due to increasing debt and unemployment and a decreasing GDP, matters worsened in the summer of 2011 when the financial markets began to doubt the Italian prime minister’s ability to pass reforms to lower national debt. Facing criticisms and pressure from other EU leaders, a weakening parliamentary majority, declining popular support and his incapacity to resolve the crisis, Berlusconi resigned in November 2011 after the Italian parliament approved austerity measures requested from the EU.[16]

How Berlusconi’s media empire and political discourse shaped Italian society

The key to Berlusconi’s political success was his media empire known as Mediaset, which included the private television stations mentioned above. In contrast to the Italian state-owned broadcaster, RAI, which had serious and unadventurous programmes, the media mogul’s channels introduced commercial TV in Italy and displayed films that could not be watched on RAI at the time, together with American soap operas, quizzes and reality shows, but more importantly programmes involving politically incorrect humour and scantily clad showgirls.[17] It is not unfounded to claim that his television channels have catalysed a perpetual political and media campaign that trivialised certain concepts and vulgarised popular discourse to the point that the unsayable was made legitimate.[18] In essence, Berlusconi’s media empire altered the social fabric of Italian society through its kitsch TV shows by creating a popular culture ingrained with sexism, male chauvinism, nouveau riche tastelessness and unrestricted amoralism.[19] The magnate was the first politician to recognise that “locker room vulgarity guaranteed more votes than enlightened sensitivity.”[20]

He retained this approach even as prime minister with a series of inappropriate jokes and comments. Once he made frivolous remarks about Benito Mussolini, claiming that he never killed anyone and that he just sent them on holiday. On another occasion during a quarrel with the ex-Member of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, he suggested that his opponent should play the role of a concentration camp guard in a movie about the Holocaust. In 2008 Berlusconi commented on the high presence of women in the cabinet of the then Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that it was “too pink” and that “he’ll have problems leading them.” In 2010, while embroiled in a sex scandal, he stated that it was “better to be passionate about beautiful women than to be gay.” He also described the former US President Barack Obama as “suntanned” and ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an “unf***able lard-arse.” [21] Such statements angered his opponents, but most importantly roused his electorate since he claimed to speak the language of “ordinary people.”[22] His words were also a means of making voters understand that he has their same fears and prejudices. Throughout his political career, Berlusconi regularly attacked his opponents (minorities, magistrates, progressives) and later used their responses against them in order to portray himself as a victim to the point that the so-called buonisti (do-gooders) were considered villains and the spregiudicati (unscrupulous people) heroes.[23]

The mogul’s media empire did not just comprise three commercial channels (through which he maintained public support, dominated the political agenda and delegitimised his adversaries), but also the right-wing newspapers Il Giornale, Il Foglio and Libero that regularly castigated Berlusconi’s rivals. Moreover, during his premierships he seized control of the RAI newscasts to expand his perpetual campaign and limit the flow of information.[24] Berlusconi did not hesitate to even go as far as censoring his critics on television. In 2002 during a press conference in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, he enacted what became known as the editto bulgaro (Bulgarian edict) by publicly slandering two journalists (Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro) and a comedian (Daniele Luttazzi) who were openly critical of him. Eventually, the programmes hosted by these figures were removed. The following year a satirical show presented by the comedian Sabina Guzzanti, renowned for her impersonations of the tycoon, was cancelled after the first episode due to a defamation lawsuit from Mediaset. This direct censorship also meant that documentaries and films which criticised Berlusconi were not shown on Italian television. Unsurprisingly, he was given the censorship ‘award’ in 2002 by Index on Censorship, an organisation campaigning for freedom of speech worldwide. In addition,Freedom House considered Italy to be one of the Western countries with limited media and press freedoms because of the former premier’s overwhelming control over most of the country’s media.[25] Nevertheless, Italy managed to maintain a plurality of media sources and many journalists continued to criticise Berlusconi even at the height of his power. This ensured that his rule did not last long.[26]

Berlusconi’s lawsuits and scandals

As mentioned above, Berlusconi entered politics to save himself from prosecution as he had interactions with the judiciary over corruption, false accounting and other illegal activities. He was also a member of the Masonic P2 lodge that was subject to police investigation for its misdeeds.[27] In recent years it was revealed how Berlusconi and his associates had ties with the Sicilian mafia which received financing from his holdings company Fininvest and, according to some anti-mafia magistrates, organised massacres in 1993 to provoke instability and smooth the way for the tycoon’s political career.[28]

During his time as prime minister, he passed several ad personam laws that favoured him and his enterprises, while building a patronage network with his supporters and collaborators using both his and the Italian general public’s money.[29] He faced 36 lawsuits (two of which are still ongoing), mainly regarding corruption, embezzlement, false accounting and tax fraud. In many cases he was either acquitted or had his convictions overruled thanks to the judicial legislation his governments approved. Indeed he was only ever convicted of tax fraud in 2013 with a four-year prison sentence. However, since in Italy those over 70 are not normally imprisoned he got away with a year of community service and a six-year ban from holding legislative positions.[30] The most famous scandal he was implicated in revolved around a 17-year old Moroccan belly dancer named Karima El Mahroug, better known as Ruby Rubacuori (Ruby the Heart-Stealer). In 2010 she was arrested in Milan over suspicion of being a jewel thief and Berlusconi personally phoned the police requesting her release on the basis that she was the niece/granddaughter of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and wanted to avoid diplomatic issues. It was soon revealed that she attended sex parties at the prime minister’s villa near Milan. Eventually, in 2013 Berlusconi was found guilty of paying a minor for sexual services and of abusing his power to hide this story, but the sentence was revoked on appeal.[31] Regardless of the outcomes of such court proceedings, the mogul’s behaviour left a damaging legacy defined by the delegitimisation of the role of the magistrates, a victimisation model used to avoid prosecution that was copied by others and slower, less efficient judicial procedures.[32]

Berlusconi’s foreign policy and influence on global politics

In foreign policy Berlusconi was able to maintain a clear Atlanticist position while also developing amiable relationships with non-Western leaders. He had close ties with American President George W. Bush and this was evident by Italy’s participation in the US-led operations in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), although the premier thought that the latter campaign was a mistake. Most importantly, he had cultivated a stable friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin since the 2001 G8 summit and seriously believed that the West and Russia should cooperate on matters of mutual interest. This was reflected in a treaty signed between NATO and Moscow at the military airport of Pratica di Mare near Rome in 2002 which was supposed to incentivise a better relationship between the two former enemies based on reciprocal trust.[33] At the time it appeared as a means of going beyond the current structure of
the military alliance and integrating the Russian Federation into the European context.[34] As it happened, Berlusconi played the part of mediator between the US, the EU and Putin, especially during the 2008 Georgian crisis in which he helped to prevent a dangerous escalation.[35] Therefore, one may only wonder what role he would have played in the Ukrainian crisis of 2014 had he been in power at the time.

Berlusconi also had an amicable bond with the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with whom he signed an agreement in 2008 in which Italy recognised the crimes committed against the Libyans under Italian colonial domination in exchange for energy supplies and management of migration flows on behalf of Libya. This deal was nullified by the Western intervention in 2011 that brought down Gaddafi’s government. Despite initial reluctance, Berlusconi soon succumbed to pressure from the US to join the efforts against his former ally.[36] In hindsight, it could be said that he was right to hesitate, especially because Gaddafi’s downfall resulted in a failed Libyan state and a migrant/refugee crisis of which Italy had to bear the brunt.[37] It is not unreasonable to claim that Berlusconi’s main contribution to world politics is a political playbook that has been emulated by other populist politicians in Europe and beyond. Many observers have noted the similarities between him and the ex-US President Donald Trump. Both men worked in real estate, both were magnates posing as anti-establishment insurgents, both were politically incorrect and claimed to represent ordinary people, both had good rapports with strongmen such as Putin, both challenged the judiciary, both used the media and deception to their own advantage, both had radical right-wing allies with reactionary ideas that became mainstream, and both were embroiled in sex scandals. Some have compared Berlusconi with the former British premier Boris Johnson and the Hungarian leader Viktor Orban as well.[38] So Berlusconism cannot simply be considered to be just a
phenomenon restricted to Italy, but as a model that adapted to the political circumstances of various countries.

Berlusconi’s last years and the future of Berlusconism

Berlusconi’s influence on the political landscape diminished during his later years. Despite being elected as a Senator in 2013, he had to relinquish his position due to the six-year ban from public office mentioned above before becoming a Member of the European Parliament in 2019. He returned as a senator after the 2022 Italian parliamentary elections, but he did not wield as much influence as before.[39] Nonetheless, his tenure in office contributed to popular distrust in politicians, paving the way for the rise of the populist Five Star Movement and for the leadership of the Italian Right to be taken first by Matteo Salvini’s [Northern] League and then by Giorgia Meloni.[40] Notwithstanding the disagreements she had with il Cavaliere in recent months (he once described her as “patronising” and “bossy” for instance) the current Italian prime minister needs a stable Forza Italia, which without its long-standing leader has an uncertain future.[41] Berlusconi may be deceased, but the legacy of Berlusconism is still alive because of the influence his media empire had on shaping the attitudes of ordinary Italians as well the legitimisation of unscrupulous behaviour and radical right-wing narratives.[42] There are also a few
Berlusconi imitators across the world. [43] As such,his ghost will continue to haunt us for some time.

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