The Italian Christian Democrats have enjoyed a longer period of unbroken political dominance than any other democratic party in the world. For four decades after the war they consistently won more votes than any competitor; were the dominant force in every government; provided every prime minister but three; occupied all or a majority of the cabinet seats; and controlled most of the key positions in the civil service, the state industries and banks, and the thousands of public bodies in every area of society. The author of a history of the party up to 1975 could aptly entitle his book L'Occupazione del potere (The occupation of power). As a political success story, it has been without parallel.

At the outset of the 1980s the occupation was clearly coming to an end. Although still the most powerful force in the field, the party was in retreat on almost every front. Its electoral strength, long in decline on the local level, had suddenly plummeted in the parliamentary election of 1983. It had already lost the presidency in 1978 and the prime ministry in 1981 and the two following years. Important positions in the state-controlled business sector and public agencies were being wrested out of its hands by other parties. Over the years the Christian Democrats have been renowned for their powers of recovery. But the crisis of the eighties bore signs of being systemic.