Drawing a parallel with a hypothetical British default crisis, The Guardian's Jackie Ashley summarizes the recent developments in Italy as "a suspension of democracy" :

David Cameron and George Osborne have resigned. They did their best, but were unable to carry support, even in the Tory party, for the devastating attacks on pensions and living standards the markets demand. To prevent a British default, Reginald Pinstripe-Grey, formerly chief economist of Megabank in New York, is to be installed in the Lords as acting prime minister, leading a Government of Unity and Patriotism.

Yet, is it really a step backwards? By using the same kind of abstraction, wouldn't it be possible to represent Berlusconi's political story as an experiment for a corporate takeover of a parliamentary democracy?