Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2018
Lo studio dei gruppi parlamentari non ha mai rivestito grande importanza in Italia, anche per la generale convergenza tra gli studiosi, politologi e giuristi, intorno alla tesi della subordinazione dei gruppi stessi rispetto ai partiti, sin dall'epoca della ricostruzione democratica del dopoguerra.
This article points out the features and the effects of the continuous process of re-definition among the parliamentary groups during the XII legislature in Italy. It is an interesting case of failure of consolidation for a new party system, because, after the election of 1994, the expected stabilization of the three electoral poles created at that time did not happen. Yet, at the level of the parliamentary groups, a permanent transition began, characterized by a number of splits from important parties (Lega Nord, Popular Party, New Communist Party) and even by a number of individual changes. The author, after a detailed description of such a complicated and unusual process, suggests some hipotheses about the explanatory factors of this phenomenon, indicating the possible consequences in terms of further changes of the party system and delays in the consolidation of a new political class.