The year 2011 is remembered as the year when Silvio Berlusconi's government fell and the Italian Second Republic entered its final stage, 1 and the following year, 2012, has been remembered as the year dominated by technocrats in power. 2 In contrast, 2013 has proven to be a year of incomplete transitions. The year has marked a period during which the Italian political and institutional system reached a nearly complete decisional stalemate, unable to move forward with political, institutional,

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... r economic initiatives despite several erstwhile attempts. The year 2013 was essentially bookended by two events that effectively symbolize this stalemate. The political year began with the unprecedented re-election-for the first time since the Constitution entered in force in 1948-of a standing president, the 88-year-old Giorgio Napolitano, despite the fact that he had announced in public more than once that he was not available for a second term. However, the legislature's inability to find an alternative left him little choice in the matter. The year ended with the Constitutional Court's decision to declare null and void the 2005 electoral law, substituting it with a significantly different one customized by the Court itself. 3 These events signify an almost paralyzed polity. As the chapters of this volume make clear, these are just two of the most blatant signs of systemic political dysfunction. Italy in 2013 was a country that continually seemed to be on the cusp of substantive reform and forward motion, but that never quite Italian Politics: Still Waiting for the Transformation 29 (2014): 29-43 © Berghahn Books