Interesting points of view... but, is it possible that there is a lot of people in Italy who agree with Berlusconi policy?
Here in Spain there is a lot of people who agree with the most extreme right-hand party ideas, and they are not very much different as Berlusconi policy...

i think we do need a disclaimer (as mentioned HERE)

I mean that you can't compare 1930's Germany with Today's Italy!!!

What do you mean, Fejez?

"Adolf Hitler also won the elections, but he was not democratic."
You are kidding, right???

Correct, but he used the democratic system to get the power. Germany's politics in the 1920's were a little bit similar to today's in Italy, many parties and many government changes.

Adolf Hitler also won the elections, but he was not democratic.

I think these are the biggest problems:

1. the government is not very stable - elections are every 4 years, but it can be dropped by the no-confidence vote by the representatives. This vote is very important and good, but it destroys governments which might be on a good way. (btw, it also happened in Germany in 2005, but it was the chancellor's bid to make a vote)

2. there are many parties in Italy, many of them disappear and come back with new names. It's hard for the people to figure out which they should vote for.
(in Germany, 2 left parties merged to one. This is all what happened in the last 20 years)

3. hence big coalitions are possible, which are difficult to handle. Prodi had to keep 9 parties together, from the catholic centrum to the radical left, a very fragile government. The new 4% minimum of votes for parties to get into La Camera is good. (but in Germany, a government with more than 3 parties would be impossible, there would be re-elections, then)

4. if there are many (new) parties with no strong background, it is the party's candidate who will win the race, not the party, like in the USA. A candidate with charisma and leading skills is needed, and that's what Berlusconi seems to have built up all of his life.

5. most of the Italian people are not aware of the "bad things" Berlusconi has done or they have forgotten it.

That's what I don't understand myself Prinzparadox...

I'm not very much into Italian politics, but I think the political system is failing in several ways. Why is it possible that it was so easy to drop Romano Prodi and so hard to drop Berlusconi?