The Berlusconi regime represents a degenerate form of democracy: a halfway state between democracy and a new form of totalitarianism that we have not witnessed before. The latter cannot be described as fascism even though the two share certain characteristics, and even though the Berlusconi phenomenon can be understood only in the context of a country that was fascist and still bears in its polity and mindset some of the traits of that period. But just as fascism was a completely novel form of politics when it first appeared, so the Berlusconi phenomenon must also be seen as new and distinct.
Berlusconi is by far and away the most powerful media owner in Italy as well as the country's richest man. He has ruthlessly deployed his three TV channels and his newspapers as propaganda vehicles for his political objectives, and refused to divest himself of them in the face of a blatant conflict of interest. He has used his vast fortune to establish and fund his private political fiefdom, Forza Italia, whose culture and style reflects the values of the corporate, televisual and sporting worlds that Berlusconi inhabits and which have come increasingly to besiege the values of the more traditional political world.
But it is not just that the Berlusconi phenomenon, by the utilisation of huge personal wealth and the misuse of media control, undermines the division of powers on which a healthy democracy rests. He also seeks actively to undermine the various independent centres of power, outside his formal control, on which the very existence of a democracy depends.
Ever since his election in 2001, he has eroded the independence of the state broadcaster, Rai, and progressively transformed it into a vehicle for his own views. It is generally believed that he was behind the resignation of the editor of Corriere della Sera, Italy's most independent newspaper.
Above all, he has sought to paint large parts of the judiciary - especially those who have been involved in prosecuting him - as engaged in some kind of leftwing political conspiracy. In so doing he has deliberately damaged the judiciary's credibility and legitimacy, while at the same time presenting himself as above the law by introducing an act that grants him immunity from prosecution.
In seeking to constrain the power of institutions that are independent of him, Berlusconi has been pursuing a policy of creeping totalitarianism. His own style of political attack graphically illustrates the point. Just as he sought to damn Martin Schulz as a Nazi, so he is constantly seeking to denigrate, undermine and condemn opponents in the most extreme of terms.
He describes the left as "communists" under whom "there would be no freedom in Italy". On two popular presenters that he got dismissed from Rai: "Public television, which is funded by everyone's money, was put to criminal use by Santoro [and] Biagi." On the judges: "A section of the judiciary is using its powers not to administer justice but to attack and eliminate those that it considers its political opponents."
This kind of political style is a direct descendant of fascism, where the opposition is branded in the most lurid and extreme language, accorded no respect, and dismissed as outside the parameters of respectable and civilised society. Berlusconi has poisoned Italian politics and this week did the same to European politics. It was no gaffe: this is how Berlusconi customarily treats political opponents.
This is not to suggest that Berlusconi is now immoveable. Enough of democracy remains for the people to vote him out of office. But he has already revealed the extraordinary weakness and vulnerability of Italian democracy, not least the extent to which a large proportion of the population seems willing to turn a blind eye to blatant conflicts of interest and authoritarian excesses.
Even if he is voted out at the next election, the damage that has been done to Italian democracy will be difficult to repair. Should he remain in office, the prospects are grim indeed. It is time Europe woke up to the threat Berlusconi poses. He is not just another rightwing politician; he represents the greatest challenge to democracy anywhere in Europe.
· Martin Jacques is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics
