What kind of democracy, at what price (2011)

As early as November 1983, Eurispes, in collaboration with Luiss University, organised a conference on the costs of democracy. The following year, with the publication of the proceedings of the conference: “The cost of democracy. Italian political parties: costs and financing”, it was the first research institute to deal with the relationship between democracy and operating costs. Since then, the Institute has dealt with this issue on several occasions, taking up the changing dynamics, as analysed in the Italy Report. In particular, the traditional survey on Italians’ trust in institutions, included in the Report, has over the years represented the thermometer of the growing disaffection of citizens towards institutions and politics in particular.
The research path on the costs of democracy is intended to be a scientific contribution aimed at interpreting the evolution of the political, economic and social dynamics that characterise the country’s current situation. Through our research, we will try to contribute to the emergence of more or less well-known social phenomena, which can be applied by political and economic decision-makers in their work of directing and governing the economy and society.