Abstract This note attempts to test the relation between the parties that take part in coalition governments and specific spending programs in Italy from 1960 to 1993. In doing so, we: 1) build a voting power index to describe the relative position of political parties in
government and 2) analyze the long-term relationship between expenditure by functions and political parties. Data indicate that the Christian Democratic party was the leading party. It adopted long run policies; nevertheless, it did not refer to specific items of public expenditure. T h e
three smaller parties (the Liberal, the Republican and the Social Democratic) did not have enough strength to pursue spending programs in the long run. Finally, the analysis shows that the Socialists tried to find a key role in the political framework by swinging from a long-term opposition
to the policy formation in the Senate to short-term agreements on spending policies in the Chamber of Deputies.