List of tables and figures; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. The Roots of Clientelistic Power: 1. Politics in the South, 1860-1943: regime change and political immobility; 2. The southern economy: modernisation without development; 3. Christian democracy in the postwar South: clientelism and the failure of reform; Part II. The Social Bases of the Machine: 4. The white-collar middle class; 5. The local entrepreneurial class; 6. The Mafia as entrepreneur: the politics of urban expansion and urban renewal; 7. The urban poor: poverty and political control; 8. The urban poor: three neighbourhood studies; 9. Why does clientelism survive?; Part III. The Prospects and the Limits of Change: 10. Naples under the left; 11. Conclusion; Statistical appendix; Notes; Selected bibliography; Index.