I've been interested in the election this weekend in Italy. Italians vote for members of their parliament and the party getting the largest number of MPs gets to try to form a coalition. This Washington Post story has the details, and is echoed outside their paywall on msn.com.
The Frateli d'Italia party is expected to be that party and they have a coalition of rightist parties lined up to give them a governing majority. A close read of the details of the grief associated with multi-party governments which typify the Netherlands, Italy and Israel, gives one a new appreciation for our de facto two party system.
There's a aphorism about the Dutch, Israelis and Italians, probably derived from their multiparty systems. It goes something like "Between them any three (insert Dutch, Italians or Israelis) will have at least four opinions on any given issue." You can see how this makes governing close to impossible. Perhaps that near-impossibility is its charm.
We should have results from Italy in a day or two.
