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The Renewed Drive of Particular Interests and the Disappearance of the Public Sphere The article explores three forms of dominance of private interests over political representation in contemporary Italy. The first form is related to the position of Prime Minister Berlusconi, who combines political, economic and media power. Here we observe a regression to the pre-modern patrimonial state where political representation as a type of mediation between the Nation and the Executive branch disappears. The second form is related to the crisis of the system of political parties that have lost their role of giving voice to society: They turn into State organs and the elected representatives become followers of the party leader. The third form of dominance of private interests is based on massive depoliticization and on the spread of the idea of politics as a mere tool to defend particular interests.
