Abstract

The essay considers the Italian experience of the center-left coalition particularly during the years 1959-1964 within the broader framework of the complex, political, institutional, economic and social evolution of the Italian nation. The author thus highlights the peculiarities of the Italian center-left coalition in order to «normalize» its representation, to go beyond the historiographical interpretation that depicts the Italian center-left experience as a «missed opportunity», without denying some of its merits and validity. The modest results of the experience of the Center-Left government, particularly when measured against the expectations generated by its formation, are explained as a consequence of the structural elements of the national political-institutional framework.