Within the frame of the comparative study of representative elites, the Italian case has always received a significant attention, due to a number of reasons. Among them, the centrality of the legislative institutions within the Italian parliamentary democracy. However, after about twenty-five years of political change, and a few months before a referendum which could significantly reshape the structure of the traditional bicameral parliament, the Italian parliamentary democracy seems to be still in the line of fire: the recent 2013 critical elections, the emergence of new leaders and new «citizen-based» parties, and the troublesome re-instauration of a stable party system, make the study of political representation in Italy stimulating and frustrating at the same time. Which kind of adjustment are we looking at? The chapter, with the help of both a longitudinal analysis of MPs behaviour and a assessment of some recent attitudinal surveys, will try to answer such a question, in a broader frame of evolution of political representation in the South European scenario.
