The Italian election was heartening for populist forces. Yet the results do not break with a venerable Italian tradition — one that political scientist Giuseppe di Palma described in "Surviving without Governing: The Italian Parties in Parliament." Those who are suddenly overcome with anxiety for Italy and Europe might find solace in its pages.
Di Palma's work, published in 1977, emerged in the wake of parliamentary elections that look a lot like Sunday's results:
The Italian Communist Party won 34.4 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election — slightly more than the populist Five Star Movement is projected to have gained in Sunday's vote.