As for some fresh thinking in jurisprudential matters, which—as I discussed in the introduction—have a tremendous impact on shaping the ideology of bargaining with the mafia, there are alas no signs at all. The notion of the mafia as an ordinamento giuridico, a legal system in its own right, lingers on, while there is a burning need for reconsideration. Between the pressure to accommodate the interests of parallel institutions and the urgent need not to let their independence work against the interests of the public, the Italian state has systematically yielded to the former.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 678