贝卢斯科尼是一位成功的商人和伟大的沟通者，也是过去30年（1993～2023年）意大利政坛的绝对主角。因此，要在他逝世仅数月后就做出总结性评价并非易事。尽管困难是客观存在的，但本文仍尝试给出一个系统性框架，使读者能够从不同维度去了解贝卢斯科尼在意大利以及国际舞台上扮演的角色，其中既包括积极的一面，也包括消极的一面。我们将看到贝卢斯科尼如何深刻革新了政治行动与沟通的方式，如何彻底改变了政党、政府领袖与选民之间的关系，以及他如何复兴了与“自由主义革命”相关的理念。本文回顾了贝卢斯科尼作为政党和政治联盟的创始人、政府首脑、重要国际倡议的积极推动者以及成功企业家的人生经历，使读者能够对所谓“贝卢斯科尼主义”现象的优点和局限做出评价。而“贝卢斯科尼主义”，正是之后席卷欧洲乃至全球的“民粹主义”现象的先驱。
A few months after his death，it is certainly not an easy task to outline the characteristics of Silvio Berlusconi，the primary protagonist of Italian politics of the last thirty years，from 1993 to 2023，a great entrepreneur and communicator. Despite these objective difficulties，this article presents a systemic framework of knowledge elements that allow the readers to understand the multiple aspects，both positive and negative，of the role that Berlusconi has played in Italian society，and also on the international scene，profoundly innovating the modes of political action，the approach to communication，the system of relations between party leaders and government and voters，regenerating thought orientations such as that relating to the “liberal revolution”. The article reconstructs and presents elements of evaluation on the path taken by Berlusconi in his experience as a founder of a party and political coalitions，as head of government，active protagonist of important international initiatives，and promoter of businesses. The framework of these elements puts the readers in a position to evaluate the merits and limits of what has been defined as the phenomenon of “Berlusconism”，an original precedent of the broader phenomenon of “populism”，widespread in Europe and in the world.
