This book analyses one of the most remarkable and controversial European politicians of recent decades, the four-time prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, and his contribution to the dramatic changes that have overtaken Italian politics since the early 1990s.

2013 saw Berlusconi's career enter a new and final phase in which he was occupied less frequently in setting the political agenda than in reacting to agendas set by others. This study considers his legacy and how and why he has changed, or failed to change, Italian politics in the period since his emergence. Would Italian political history of the past twenty-five years have looked substantially different had Berlusconi not had the high-profile role that he did? This book considers Berlusconi's legacy in the areas of political culture, voting and party politics, public policy and the quality of Italian democracy. It concludes by considering the international significance of the Berlusconi phenomenon in relation to the recent election of Donald Trump, with whom Berlusconi is often compared.

Silvio Berlusconi: A study in failure seeks to contribute to a broader debate of recent years concerning the significance of leaders in post-Cold War democratic politics and will appeal to anyone with an interest in Berlusconi, Italian politics or in the growing significance of populist leaders.

James L. Newell is a former Professor of Politics and author of Corruption in contemporary politics: A new travel guide (Manchester University Press, 2018)

Introduction: a remarkable politician?
Part I: Emergence
1 From childhood, through business career to political debut, 1936-93
2 Berlusconi's political message
Part II: Berlusconi the politician
3 Forza Italia and national politics, 1994-2001
4 Berlusconi the party leader
Part III: Berlusconi the Prime Minister
5 Berlusconi in office, 2001-11
6 Berlusconi's relations with the political class
Part IV: Berlusconi's legacy
7 Berlusconi and cultural change in Italy
8 Berlusconi's electoral impact
9 Berlusconi as head of government
10 Berlusconi's legacy for the quality of Italian democracy
Conclusion: the Berlusconi story and Donald Trump
References
Index