If a political class reflects its country, then Italy is a country of tribes that have taken turns holding power since 1945: communists, anti-communists, barbarians from the Po valley, Christian Democrats, Craxian and non-Craxian socialists, post-Fascists, Berlusconi-ites and the Grillini. Tribes each with their own customs, vices and virtues. From De Gasperi to "this lot", the recent history of the Italian ruling class is traced with disenchantment.

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