Parties and parliament in pluralistic democracy

This article is the transcription of the Lectio Magistralis that professor Oreste Massari pronounced on the occasion of his retirement as a university professor and that was held in Rome on October 31, 2017. Throughout his intellectual and academic life he has analyzed the evolution of Italian parties and its party system as well as the evolution of the British parties, especially the Labor Party, the Westminster model and, in a more general way, the relevance of political leadership, the evolution of party models and the relationship of parties with democracy. His intellectual trajectory shows us how the Italian political system has changed in the last 40 years as well as the evolution and conceptual development of the analysis of parties and party systems, the development of the Italian and European political science and, finally, the challenges that parties and democracy face in the coming years.