Time has just published my essay on Italy’s dysfunctional political scene.

It says something about Italian politics that the most potent political figure to enter the arena since scandal-ridden former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a frizzy-haired bombastic comedian named Beppe Grillo, best known for organizing nationwide protests against government corruption called “Go F Yourself” days. And what it says is this: that as a desire for change sweeps the European electorate, Italians are feeling starved for choice. Indeed, with the exception of Grillo, Italy doesn’t have a single national leader who wasn’t already in politics in 1994, the year Berlusconi first came to power

read the rest.