The Italian Guillotine

Few readers of these riveting pages will fail to understand how deep the threat to democracy is, now represented by the Clean Hands investigators themselves, not by corruption. -- Joseph LaPalombara * Political Science Quarterly * In developing their thesis, Burnett and Mantovani have been very clear, almost mathematical. They explain it, they stick to the facts and the unrolling of the story, and they offer proof, citing the words and actions of the protagonists themselves. -- Spencer M. Di Scala * Voltaire * At the end of the story, one is left with a fresh, plausible, and disturbing interpretation of the profound and controversial transformations that have taken place in the administration of justice and their revolutionary effects on Italian politics and society. The narrative is absorbing and the argument unrelenting; the authors challenge, or correct, prevailing interpretations well beyond what has been done by other writers on the subject to date. -- Filippo Sabetti, McGill University The best, in fact, that has yet been written on the subject in terms of documentation and explanations. -- Marcello Pera * Il Mesaggero * The authors argue a controversial point of view persuasively....[They] painstakingly document their case against the magistrates....[The book's] strength is the insights it provides into the motives and style of actors in contemporary Italian politics and media. * Foreign Service Journal * Burnett and Mantovani have written an excellent history of Italy during the past fifteen years, the best available in English. It is the story of the downfall of the First Republic as the result of 'Operation Clean Hands,' a story virtually ignored outside Italy and often misinterpreted. While the extent of corruption pervading the old system is never doubted, the authors show that the Milan-based judges had a political agenda of their own and that their procedures were often unlawful. -- Walter Laqueur, historian; political commentator; author of The Terrible Secret The authors' great merit likes in the objectivity and meticulous documentation of their examination of the dramatic political and judicial facts that led to the destruction of a part of the Italian political class. ...The Italian Guillotine represents an important point of reference for public opinion, for politicians, and for historians. * The Silone Foundation * The most interesting part is the analysis of the mechanisms and causes of corruption. They offer an economic explanation, the fragility of which explains the system's unraveling... * Foreign Affairs, September/October 1998 * . . . a novice to Italian politics will learn some useful things from this book. -- Vittorio Bufacci, University College Dublin * Political Studies Review * [the authors present a] wealth of journalistic detail . . . -- P. Vannicelli, University of Massachusetts at Boston * CHOICE *

Stanton H. Burnett is senior advisor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C. Luca Mantovani is chief of the Forza Italia press office for the Chamber of Deputies.

Chapter 1 What Happened to Italy? The Thesis Chapter 2 The Arena Chapter 3 The Politics of the Magistracy Chapter 4 The Lessons of History Chapter 5 The Decline and Fall of Due Process Chapter 6 The Politics of Justice Chapter 7 The Launching of the Coup Chapter 8 The Scandal Touches the Political Summit Chapter 9 The Establishment Cracks Chapter 10 Setbacks for the Government and the Parties Chapter 11 Differences in Treatment: Cagliari and Romiti Chapter 12 Parliament Confronts the Pool Chapter 13 The Red Togas and Their Thought Chapter 14 Death by Clean Hands Chapter 15 The Cusani Trial Chapter 16 Berlusconi Chapter 17 The Biondi Decree-Law Chapter 18 The Pool Attacks the Prime Minister Chapter 19 The Resignation of Di Pietro Chapter 20 Intermission: The Magistrate as Elliot Ness Chapter 21 Interregnum: Between Counter-Revolution and Endgame Chapter 22 The Final Act? Conclusion Chapter 23 Chronology Chapter 24 Cast of Characters