Imagine an Italian cafe, circa 2023. Mat-teo Renzi's Democratic Party (pd) has been re-elected to a third term. A customer reads of frantic talks in Britain, where yet another government has collapsed after a few weeks because of the defection of Welsh Nationalists. "Quesri inglesi!" he mutters. "What a way to run a country!" Unthinkable? With hindsight, this week might mark the moment Britons and Italians swapped political identities. On May 4th, as Britons braced for a confused election result and a coalition or minority government, the Italian parliament approved a reform that should give Italy long-term political stability and decisive two-party (or even one-party) government.
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