Gioco d'azzardo, società e politica

Gambling has strongly grown in the last two decades in Italy; this growth has been stimulated through the deregulation choices that Governments adopted while legalizing gambling - purportedly to limit organized crime and increase fiscal revenues for the State. Often, strong links between politicians and major gambling companies have emerged, and this has led to obvious conflicts of interest in policy-making. Lately, some politicians have begun to adopt a more critical and negative stance on gambling and its social consequences. One reason for this change is the arrival of new political parties, that have innovated on the debate and influenced the policy itself; another reason is the growth of the sensitivity of the population to the risks related to gambling. In turn, civil society and the Third sector, through their capillary - albeit sometimes contentious work, have played a fundamental contribution towards a paradigm step change. [Publishers' text].