Abstract

The essay moves from a definition of populist parties as anti-elitist and anti-pluralist forces and aims at verifying elements of continuity and discontinuity in trends of Italian legislation since 1994: from the moment in which a majoritarian electoral system was adopted and the first Berlusconi government started, till the first months of the legislative term originated from 2018 elections, under a self-defining populist Government. Indeed, pathological phenomena in legislation certainly did not stop, but were consolidated and took forms even more clearly contrasting with articles 70 and 72 Cost. In the final part of the essay, it is argued that the legislative process in Italy needs to be re-conceived, possibly fully developing the "throughput legitimacy" that it entails.