When people talk about Italy today, they almost always mention Silvio Berlusconi, recalling the countless scandals in which the media mogul has been embroiled during his time as Prime Minister. The actual work of Berlusconi's center-right coalition, which governed from 1994/95 and again from 2001 to 2006, and has been setting the tone in Rome since 2008, has almost become a secondary issue in light of the Prime Minister's controversies. The authors of this anthology, experts from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, look behind the scenes and inquire about continuities and breaks in foreign and European policy, labor market and social policy, as well as domestic and legal policy. They place Italy's development over the past twenty years in a European context and illustrate where the country stands today. Contributions by: Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi, Gregor Hoppe, Henning Klüver, Aram Mattiol.