Essay  /  michelerovatti.com  /  2026

Why Autocracies Won

We tried to change them, they are changing us.

Michele Rovatti  ·  May 2026

In September 2019, Boris Johnson prorogued the British Parliament. Five weeks of parliamentary session, suspended by executive decree, justified by the constitutional convention that governments may seek a prorogation at any point. The Supreme Court ruled the action unlawful in a unanimous judgment — eleven judges, zero dissents. The Prime Minister had attempted to bypass the legislature because the legislature was in his way. The courts stopped him. The system, on that occasion, worked.

The Neon Nexus: Miami Vice and the Pivot from Modern Power to Postmodern Culture

We often mistake the moment a culture peaks for the beginning of its eternal reign. We confuse the final, brilliant flare of a supernova with a new, permanent sun. Such was the case with the West in the 1980s, and there is no more perfect, more beautiful, and more tragic artifact of this climax than the television show Miami Vice.

Italy's Decline: Economic Stagnation, Demographic Collapse, and the Tourism Paradox

The juxtaposition is jarring: Venice hosts Jeff Bezos' $50 million wedding while locals flee Capri because teachers can't afford rent. This encapsulates modern Italy—a nation sacrificing its social fabric at the altar of short-term tourism gains while grappling with chronic economic paralysis and a vanishing youth population. Over the past 25 years, Italy has become a case study in mismanaged potential, where structural flaws intersect with a tourism economy that worsens inequality.