[fblike]

l_2Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete!  Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on Italian politics.  The governing centre-left Democratic Party fared well in recent regional elections, winning five of the seven contested regions, but the party saw its share of the popular vote fall against its centre-right rival Forza Italia.  Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was looking for a clear mandate from the regional elections to push sizable education, labor, and political reforms.  Renzi’s drive to remake Italy has earned him the enmity of both sides of the political aisle, but he has pledged to continue his reformist course to fix one of the most dysfunctional countries in Western Europe.