Inside the museum that holds the Ara Pacis, a marble altar celebrating the peace and prosperity brought by the 40-year reign of Ancient Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, a group of prominent Italian business people were recently reflecting on the current state of the country.  

The assembled entrepreneurs and executives — supporters of a fledgling civil society movement called Io Cambio, or I Change — lamented the heavy toll that chronic political instability had taken on contemporary Italy’s prospects and international credibility.

In their formal discussions, and over sparkling wine, cheese and olives on the rooftop afterwards, they diagnosed what they see as the problem: Italy’s constitution, written after the second world war and the fall of Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship, was no longer fit for purpose. An overhaul was needed if Italy is to deliver stronger governments capable of tackling the country’s economic and social woes, they said.