Italy: after the storm

The chapter is part of a book, edited by Bas Denters and Lawrence E. Rose, that compares the trends of local government in 12 countries since the end of the 1980s. This chapter highlights the changes that occurred in Italy specially after the 1992-93 storm that put an end to the old party system and to the first republic: the increasing decentralization, the renaissance of Italian cities, the role of the newly directly elected mayors, the administrative reform and the 2011 constitutional amendment that transformed Italy in a quasi-federal system.