ITALY: Those who argue that proportional representation enables a much wider variety of political thought to win parliamentary representation might well look to this week's Italian general election to sustain their thesis.
One of the trends to emerge from the photo-finish between the centre-left and centre-right coalitions was the good performances of smaller parties which ran on their own tickets but as part of the larger coalition.
Even though the Forza Italia party of defeated prime minister Silvio Berlusconi once again proved itself the strongest in the land, polling 23.7 per cent as opposed to the 17.5 per cent recorded by Democratic Left (ex-PCI, the Italian Communist Party), that result was still some way short of the 29 per cent Forza Italia won (in the chamber) five years ago.
By comparison, Democratic Left registered a 1 per cent increase on its showing of 2001.
As far as Mr Prodi's future government is concerned, the success of the smaller parties confirms something that was known long before the election. Namely, that his executive will depend heavily on the hard-line left-wing Rifondazione Comunista.
With 7.4 per cent and 27 seats in the senate and 5.8 per cent and 41 seats in the chamber of deputies, Rifondazione has significantly improved on its showing of five years ago, when it polled just 5 per cent in both houses.
Other smaller parties in the centre-left coalition to do well were the Radicals (2.6 per cent), the Italian Communists and the party led by former investigative magistrate Antonio Di Pietro (both 2.3 per cent) and the Greens (2.1 per cent), all up on their 2001 results.
On the other side of the fence, the same phenomenon was registered by the ex-Christian Democrat UDC party led by the chamber speaker, Pier Ferdinando Casini, which registered 6.8 per cent in both houses, more than double its vote in 2001.
Mr Berlusconi's two other major allies, the formerly fascist Alleanza Nazionale and the Northern League, also both held up well.
Among the major election losers were the extreme right-wing parties, Alternativa Sociale led by Alessandra Mussolini and the Fiamma Tricolore, which both failed to win a seat. On the centre-left side, a major loser was the small Socialist Party led by Bobo Craxi, son of former prime minister Bettino Craxi, which also failed to win a seat.
One other result destined to have an immediate impact was the showing of Mr Prodi's Olive Tree group, which on its own in the senate picked up only 0.2 per cent of the vote, but along with the Margherita and Democratic Left returned 31.3 per cent in the chamber.
Not for nothing, Mr Prodi may soon move to form a new, more centre than left, US-style Democratic party.