Sixty years of political talks shows on Rai. From educating viewers to party-democracy to entertaining them with social television.

The article retraces the evolution of Rai's show schedule for political talk-shows, a heterogeneous and motley macro-genre of programmes which includes journalistic programmes, debates which recall squares or public places, a laid back atmosphere on a television set where the private and personal side prevails over the public one, moments within entertainment programs and satire shows. From the first "Tribuna Elettorlale" up to the recent "Ballarò" or "Che Tempo che fa", the article analyzes the production and formal aspects - like formats, staging, scenography, direction, - as well as the messages and meaning either directly or indirectly related to the different programmes. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that Rai has played an important role in the education of the Italians to the rules of democracy as well in the formalization of the different models of public debate that t have taken place over the years. Initially, Rai was subordinate to the needs and requests of the political parties and institutions thus strengthening them; in a second stage it started to behave more and more autonomously until it brought about changes both within the rules of the public arena and in its protagonists, moving from an educational role to becoming a form of entertainment.