The paper explores the transformations which have occurred to ministerial cabinets as entrenched advisory structures in the Italian executive since the early 1990s when the Italian party system collapses and a permanent cycle of administrative reforms was launched. It examines how the old elite of policy advisors have acquired a greater role in executive coordination filling the void left by the failed institutionalization of the new Italian parties. In doing so, the empirical analysis identifies the constellation of factors that reprodueced ministerial cabinets as a legacy of the past in the present setup of the Italian system.
