Politics

The politics of Italy takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Italy has been a democratic republic since June 2, 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum. The constitution was promulgated on January 1, 1948.

Government

The 1948 Constitution of Italy established a bicameral legislature (parliament), an executive branch composed of a Council of Ministers (cabinet), headed by the President of the Council (prime minister), and a separate judiciary branch. The government depends on confidence from each branch of the parliament, and has in turn the power to make decrees. Decrees have to be confirmed in the parliament, and "decree jam" has been a problem in recent years, as governments try to reform the structure of the state using chiefly decrees instead of passing laws directly through the parliament.

President of the Italian Republic

As the head of state, the President of the Republic represents the unity of the nation and has many of the duties previously given to the king of Italy. The president serves as a sort of point of connection between the three branches of power: he is elected by the lawmakers, he appoints the executive, and is the president of the judiciary. The president is also the commander in chief of armed forces.

The President of the Republic is elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term. The election needs a wide majority that is progressively reduced from two-thirds to one-half plus one of the votes as the ballots progress. While it is not forbidden by law, no president has ever served two terms.

Usually, the President tries to stay out of the political debate, and to be an institutional guarantee for all those involved in the political process. The president can also reject openly anti-constitutional laws by refusing to sign them, since he acts as the guardian of the Constitution of Italy.

Executive Branch

The President of the Republic appoints the President of the Council of Ministers (the Prime Minister), who then proposes (the President actually submits them) the individual ministers of the respective ministries who together form the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet), which in turn must receive a vote of confidence from both parliamentary chambers. The Prime Minister, through the cabinet, effectively runs the government of Italy.

Legislative Branch

Italy elects, on the national level, a Parliament consisting of two houses, the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) (630 members) and the Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) (315 elected members, plus a few senators for life). As of 15 May 2006, there are seven life senators (of which three are former Presidents). Both houses are elected for a maximum of five years, but both may be dissolved before the expiration of their normal term. Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both.

Judicial Branch

The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. It is based on an inquisitorial civil law system. Appeals are treated almost as new trials, and three degrees of trial are present.

Judicial review exists under certain conditions in the Constitutional Court, which can reject anti-constitutional laws after scrutiny.

The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges one of which is the President of the Italian Constitutional Court appointed directly from the President of the Italian Republic: one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by Parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The constitutional court, or Corte Costituzionale, passes on the constitutionality of laws, and is a post-World War II innovation.

Italy has not accepted compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

Elections

The houses of parliament are popularly and directly elected through a complex electoral system (latest amendment in 2005) which combines proportional representation with a majority prize for the largest coalition (Chamber). The electoral system in the Senate is based upon regional representation. During the elections in 2006, the two competing coalitions were separated by few thousand votes, and in the Chamber the centre-left coalition L'Unione (The Union ) got 345 Deputies against 277 for the centre-right Casa delle Libertà (House of Freedoms), while in the Senate l'Ulivo got only two Senators more than absolute majority.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are elected for a maximum of five years, but both may be dissolved by the President before the expiration of their normal term if the Parliament is unable to elect a stable government. In the post war history, this has happened in 1972, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1994 and 1996.

A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italians permanently living abroad (more than 2 million). Among the 630 Deputies and the 315 Senators there are respectively 12 and 6 elected in four distinct foreign constituencies. Those members of Parliament were elected for the first time in April 2006 and they enjoy the same rights as members elected in Italy.

Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both.

All Italian citizens older than 18 can vote. However, to vote for the senate, the voter must be at least 25 or older.