8. Organized Groups and Civil Society

Italy is a country that has had throughout its history a rich array of economic and social organizations operating in civil society. In fact, it is the country that provided the case study for the development of the concept of social capital (Putnam et al., 1994) and how its presence in the form of a thick network of voluntary organizations has helped to explain, on one hand, the level of performance of government institutions and, on the other, the level of economic development (Nanetti and Holguin, 2015). Today, Italy continues to be characterized by the abundant presence of civic organizations and a self-regulating society where the presence of the police in maintaining law and order is minimal in nature. It is true that Italy has three national police forces—the Carabinieri, the national police (Polizia di Stato) and the Guardia di Finanza. However, these police forces have the purpose of combating organized crime, terrorist organizations and financial and economic fraud. They do not have the task of patrolling the streets at night or during the day as is the case with local police forces in the US or the UK. Simply put, Italy does not have a system of local police patrolling the streets of major cities. The only local police force existing in Italy is the vigili urbani (city police) who look after traffic, local urban laws and the collection of rubbish rather than dealing with any form of criminal activity. As a result, Italy depends to a great extent on self-policing or self-regulation in overseeing the public order in the cities and rural areas.