Is it possible to make sense of a political system where 123 people, each from different parties, can run for a single seat in parliament? This volume studies this contemporary Italian political system. Through an analysis of the system, the author explains party organization, formal government institutions--legislature, executive, judiciary, administrative, and sub-national--as well as the impact of the European Community on the national political system. He includes with a discussion of recent reforms at both national and local levels, and assesses the debate on wider constitutional reform.