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The year 2006 was by all means an election year: a significant proportion of voters were called to the polls three times. In at least two - the parliamentary elections of 9-10 April and the 25-26 June constitutional referendum - the voters' choices had extraordinary consequences. The parliamentary elections awarded victory to the center-left by the slimmest of margins, yet ushered in a radical change in government, whereas the referendum saw the rejection of the substantial revision of the Constitution that had been promoted by the previous center-right government. This volume deals with these elections and their effects, namely the changes in the government majority and the Presidency of the Republic, as well as the center-right's unsuccessful attempt at revenge in local elections through the constitutional referendum, both resulting in wide-ranging changes introduced by the new majority in foreign policy. Other significant events are also examined, such as the Russian natural gas crisis; the anti-high speed train movement; the capture of mafia don Bernardo Provenzano; the scandals that marred the world soccer in the year the national team won the World Cup; and the suspicious dealings involving telecommunications giant Telecom.

Alfio Mastropaolo teaches Political Science at the University of Turin. His publications include La mucca pazza della democrazia. Nuove destre, populismo, antipolitica (Bollati Boringhieri, Turin, 2005) and (with Luca Verzichelli) Il parlamento. Le assemblee legislative nelle democrazie contemporanee (Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2006).

Jean-Louis Briquet is CNRS research director at Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI, Paris). He teaches Comparative Politics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. He has recently published Mafia, justice et politique en Italie. L'affaire Andreotti dans la crise de la République (Paris, Karthala, 2007).