This uncomfortable alliance between North and South gave rise to the major political, social, and economic problem of Italy since its foundation: the glaring disparities between the North (including the Centre), which, in terms of economic development and democratic practice, is relatively modernized and developed, and the South, which is more backward economically and whose social and political system is marked by clientelism and institutional incapacity (Putnam, Leonardi, and Nanetti 1993).
Ωστόσο, αυτό που διακρίνει την πελατειακή σχέση στην Ιταλία είναι η διαδεδομένη) φύση) της και ο ρόλος του κομματικού συστήματος στη διαιώνιση της (Graziano, 1980).