"By 1918, Trasformismo politics were so utterly debased that its collapse would be both inevitable and swift" Discuss.
In the first part of the twentieth century, Italy was an absolute mess. A country for only 40 years, the Prime Ministers of this ailing nation were changing every year or so, and the political system was not only doing nothing to help this predicament-it, ultimately, was the cause of much of the angst. But why? And for how long would it survive?.
The weakness of the political system in Italy was mainly based in selfishness. The way in which Italy was governed allowed self-interest at absolutely every level. For example, the King was able to look after himself because he could basically appoint or dismiss anyone he wanted to with little difficulty. He technically appointed only the Prime Minister, and the Senate, but because each of these appointed their own sections of the system (for example, the Prime Minister appointed Prefects), the King could appoint those who would answer to him and appoint those he agreed with. The King wanted an ambitious leader willing to expand, so that he could become great. The King had a good deal, so there was no way that he would change the system that benefited him so much. Therefore, the only way in which Italy would change politically was in the form of a revolution.
In the same way, corruption went on at every level. The Prime Minister, who was appointed by the King, appointed the Prefects who governed provinces in Italy. These Prefects would effectively rig the votes for government candidates by promising the tiny electorate a service or resource promised to them by the Deputies- if a deputy was up for a vote he would meet a Prefect and promise them this and they would convince the electorate. This would occur until someone came along with a better offer from a different party- a bigger building contract, for example, if the Prefect owned a building firm.
