This paper addresses the challenge presented by the panel organisers ‘to develop the analytical traction and leverage of the concept [of depoliticisation]’ through a case study approach that focusses on the comparative lessons from the response to the Eurozone crisis in Italy. The paper begins with an outline of the context and the salient events: these centre on the impact of a dual loss of trust by external forces in the capacity of the Italian political system to respond adequately to the Eurozone crisis - first, the loss of trust of global markets in Italian sovereign bonds, and second, the loss of trust by other Eurozone leaders in the political leadership of the democratically-elected Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The outcome of these converging forces is believed by many commentators to have led to the replacement of Berlusconi by a so-called technocratic government led by a former European commissioner, Mario Monti. The paper analyses the different forms of depoliticisation underpinning these processes. In particular, I consider the different forms of trust implied by the objectives and practices of the crisis management. The reversion to a rationalising technocracy implies a turn away from deliberative democracy towards a less questioning reliance experts; this is mirrored by the rise of populist anti-party movements, for whom technocrats and professional politicians alike are untrustworthy, followed paradoxically by Monti's emergence as a centrist party political leader seeking electoral legitimacy for his claims to rigour, logic and professional expertise. The paper uses the case study to draw general conclusions about the scope for and implications of depoliticisation in national crisis contexts where exposure to global interests is high.
