Following the unexpected results of the latest political elections in Italy, the country finds itself in a political stalemate. The Five Star Movement by Beppe Grillo won an astonishing 25.5% of the votes while the Democratic Party failed to win a clear majority in the Senate. The disillusion and anger of Italians with their political class predates the current economic crisis and goes a long way in explaining their apparent erratic behavior in the past few years. Unable to form a government by itself, the Democratic Party must find the strength to negotiate with Berlusconi in order to achieve the long overdue reform of the Italian institutional and political system.