The Censis survey shows that the Italian society is "extremely individualistic". Over 56 per cent of our fellow countrymen and as many as 72 per cent of elderly people state we have to "think first of all of ourselves and our own families". As to their opinion of our politicians, 59 per cent think that "they use power arrogantly for their personal interests" and 12 per cent think the "weight of politics on the economic activities and life of the citizens" is "excessive". Only 4.7 per cent think politicians work "for the common good". At any rate, they have great confidence in the impact of the election on their own lives and the lives of their families (for 60 per cent) and on the future of the country (for 65 per cent). Many "surprises" may come, at this electoral round, from "shifted votes", due to the current "rationalisation" and the "progressive unfreezing of voters", with a "pragmatic", not ideological, approach to voting. "The problem for the near future said the president of Censis, Giuseppe De Rita is the Italian’s demand for political participation. The challenge for the parties is not to withdraw into ideologies of identity, but open up to this need for participation". Where participation, concluded De Rita, "is dressed up as a Harlequin, with the different colours of the different regions".” “
