ITALIAN POLITICAL

INTRODUCTION

The modern state of Italy came into force on 17 March 1861 when King Victor

Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia signed into law a bill in which he took for himself the title King of Italy.

Italy adopted a new constitution in 1948 after the traumatic experience of Mussolini's fascism and the Second World War. Unusually the two Houses of the

Italian Parliament possess the same rights and powers - a particular form of parliamentary democracy known as perfect bicameralism. However, this is far

from being the only oddity of the Italian political system.

Italy is something of an aberration in the democratic sweep of Europe. For decades, it somehow combined the maintenance of the same political party in power with constant changes of government while, in more recent years, it has

witnessed a fundamental transformation in the pattern of political parties and this process is still in flux.

Meanwhile, in recent years, the electoral system has been changed frequently and

substantially and the current version is both immensely complex and hugely controversial.

Politics in Italy is constantly beset with scandal and corruption and, for so long, it has seemed astonishing that the Italian economic system could be so robust,

when the Italian political system has been so chaotic – and I write as a half-Italian. It was inevitable that, sooner or later, the weaknesses in the poiltical system would translate into problems for the economic system and so it proved in

the Eurozone crisis of 2011.

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

The Italian monarchy was abolished in a referendum of 1946 (when my mother voted against the retention of the King) and, under the constitution of 1948, the

head of state is the President of the Republic. He is elected for seven years by a two-thirds majority of the Parliament sitting jointly with 58 regional delegates.

The Italian President of the Republic heads the armed forces and has powers to

veto legislation, disband parliament and call elections. He nominates the senior Government minister, called the President of the Council (equivalent to the British Prime Minister). The current President of the Republic is Giorgio

Napolitano who is a former Communist Party member.

Day to day power is exercised by the President of the Council who is nominated

by the President of the Republic (one needs to be careful with the term President in Italy) and confirmed by the Parliament. As a result of the Eurozone crisis and

the huge sovereign debt problem faced by Italy, in November 2011 the then President of the Council Silvio Berlusconi was forced to step down and his replacement is Mario Monti. Monti - a former European Commissioner - has

never been elected and was only made a senator a few days before his elevation to the head of government.

It is the President of the Council who proposes the other ministers (formally

named by the President). The Government ministers make up the Council of Ministers. Vice-ministers - called “Sottosegretari” (Undersecretaries) - are not formal members of the Council. In Italy, anyone can be appointed a minister, with

no requirement to be a member of the Parliament or a political party. Indeed, when Mario Monti became President of the Council, ne ensured that all his 17-strong cabinet are technocrats with more than a third of them professors.

THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES

The lower house in the Italian political system is the Chamber of Deputies. It has 630 members elected by all Italian citizens older than 18.

617 members are elected by proportional representation from party lists for each of 26 constituencies. Lombardy has three constituencies, Piedmont, Veneto,

Latium, Campania and Sicily each have two constituencies, and all the other 13 regions have one. Another Deputy is elected in the Aosta Valley (a mountainous

region in north-western Italy).

A peculiarity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italians who are permanently living abroad (about 2.7 million people). Therefore, as well as the 618 nationally elected Deputies, there are 12 elected in four distinct foreign

constituencies.

The term of office of Deputies is five years, but the Parliament may be dissolved by the President before then if it proves impossible to form a stable government

(this has happened six times since the war).

The election system for the Chamber of Deputies is new and complex. In its newest form, it dates only from 2005; its complexity comes from the fact that it combines a proportional representation system (a version of which produced so

many weak post-war governments) with a 'prize' for the coalition securing the largest number of votes (so that the resulting government has a stronger basis

than would otherwise be the case).

To obtain seats, some thresholds must be surpassed on a national basis as follows:

a minimum of 10% for a coalition (if this requirement is not met, the 4%

limit for single parties apply) a minimum of 4% for any party not in a coalition

a minimum of 2% for any party in a coalition (however, the first party in a coalition that rates below 2% is also assigned seats).

The coalition or party that obtains the largest number of seats but is assigned less than 340 seats, is assigned additional seats to reach this number, which

corresponds roughly to a 54% majority. This is the 'prize' and this is the incentive to form coalitions.

The Chamber of Deputies actually sits in a palace: the Palazzo Montecitorio.

THE SENATE

The upper house in the Italian political system is the Senate. It has 315 members

elected by all Italian citizens older than 25.

309 members are elected by a system of proportional representation system based upon party lists for the 20 regions of Italy.

An oddity of the Italian Parliament is the representation given to Italians abroad.

Therefore, as well as the 309 nationally elected Senators, there are 6 elected in four distinct foreign constituencies.

The term of office of elected Senators is five years,

As well as these 315 elected Senators, the Senate includes former Presidents and appointed Senators for life (no more than five) by the President of the Republic

according to special constitutional provisions.

The electoral system for the Senate is very similar to the one for the Chamber of Deputies, but it is in many ways transferred from a national to to a regional

basis. Therefore the thresholds – which are different – are applied on a regional basis as follows:

a minimum of 20% for a coalition

a minimum of 8% for any party not in a coalition a minimum of 3% for any party in a coalition (there is no exception for the

first party in a coalition below this threshold, as in the lower house)

The coalition that wins the largest number of seats in a region is automatically

given 55% of that region's seats, if it has not reached that percentage already. In contrast to the situation for the Chamber of Deputies, there is no mechanism to

guarantee a nation-wide majority in the Senate.

The Senate actually sits in a palace: the Palazzo Madama.

POLITICAL PARTIES

After the end of the Second World War, Italian politics - and even more so its government – was dominated by a single political party Democrazia Cristiana (DC - Christian-Democrats) for more than forty years, while the opposition was led by

the Italian Communist Party (PCI). The third important party was the Italian Socialist Party (PSI).

Accordingly, in the period 1946-1992, there were no less than 28 governments

and all but two of them were headed by a Christian Democrat.

Everything changed in the early 1990s. First, all the governing parties were caught up in a major scandal called the Tangentopoli and dissolved themselves so that the Christian Democratic and the Socialist parties ceased to exist.

Second, following referenda of 1993, substantial electoral changes were introduced, shifting the country from an unstable system of proportional representation to a more stable additional member system (although the voters

had actually expressed a wish for a majoritarian system similar to the French model). Third, a further electoral change provides a 'prize' to the coalition which

secures the largest number of votes in the Chamber of Deputies (which is intended the give the government a stronger base) which has the effect of encouraging political parties to join one of two major coalitions.

The results of all these changes are that, in an effort to maximise votes,

simultaneously political parties are splitting and political power is now contested by two broad coalitions bringing together most of these (often small) parties:

a Centre-Left one known as the Democratic Party – a descendant of the

Olive Tree coalition - which originally consisted of 11 parties (Democrats of the Left being the largest) and is led by former Communist Pierluigi Bersani

a Centre-Right one known as the People of Liberty – a descendant of the

Pole of Freedoms – which originally consisted of 8 parties (notably Forza Italia, the National Alliance and the Northern League) and is led by Silvio

Berlusconi

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

The Constitutional Court of Italy is the country's supreme court. It is composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the President, one-third elected by the Parliament, and one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme

courts. The Constitutional Court is a post-war innovation. Its powers, volume, and frequency of decisions are not as extensive as those of the Supreme Court in

the United states

The other senior court is the Court of Cassation.

Given the conflict and corruption in the Italian political system, the courts in Italy

find themselves embroiled in political issues in a manner largely unknown elsewhere in Europe.

So it was the courts who played a major role in provoking the fundamental

political restructuring and realignments of the early 1990s as a result of the exposure of the corruption-based system called Tangentopoli (Italian for bribeville) that dominated the country until the 'Mani pulite' ('clean hands')

investigation delivered it a blow in 1992. The 'clean hands' operation exposed corruption at the highest levels of politics and big business. Several former prime

ministers were implicated and thousands of businessmen and politicians were investigated.

THE ITALIAN POPULATION

Italy Population has surpassed 60 million as per the 2009 estimates. It is the

forth largest populated country of Europe and ranks twenty third in the world

chart. And in terms of population density, the country stands fifth all over

Europe. There are 200 persons approx residing in every square kilometer of land

area.

Italy, including the islands of Sardinia and Sicily covers an area of 301,338

square km. It is made up 20 administrative regions including Abruzzo, Calabria,

Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte,

Puglia, Sardegna, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia,

Lazio, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto, Sicilia, and Basilicata.

Italian Population has been mainly affected by the high birth rate of 9.78 births

per 1,000 people and relatively high life expectancy and low death rate of 9.82

deaths/1,000 people.

Some of the largest populated cities of Italy are Roma, Milano, Napoli, Torino,

Palermo and Genova. Among other major Italian cities the most populated having

more than 250,000 inhabitants are Bologna, Firenze, Bari, Catania, Venezia and

Verona.

According to latest reports as per the Italian Statistics Office, the literacy rate

among Italy Population is 98% with schooling been made mandatory for children

aged between 6 and 18.

The demographic details of Italy are listed as follows:

Population: 58,133,509 approximately

Age structure can be defined as:

0-14 years: 14.03%

15-64 years: 65.93%

65 years and over: 20.04%

Growth Rate of Population: 0.68%

Net Migration Rate: 7.5%

Population divided into different genders / Sex Ratio in the following Age Groups

at birth:

1.07 males per a female

Under 15 years: 1.06 males per a female

15-64 years: 1.02 males per a female

65 years and over: 0.72 male per a female

Ethnic groups: Italian. But exists some clusters of German, French, and Slovene.

There are also few Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south

Religions

90% belong to Roman

10% are Protestant or Jewish

There are also very few Muslim immigrant

Languages Spoken: officially Italian (official); others include: German, French,

Slovene

THE ITALIAN The flag of Italy (often referred to in Italian as il Tricolore) is a tricolour featuring

three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the

hoist side. Its current form has been in use since 19 June 1946 and was formally

adopted on 1 January 1948.

The design of the Italian flag has undergone numerous changes throughout

Italy's history. In fact, one could say that the chronicle of the Italian flag

represents the incredible journey in history which eventually united the Italian

people under one nation.

In the late 18th century, several Italian regions adopted a tricolor flag of green,

white, and red. The tricolor was an inspiration from the French republics located

in the northern parts of Italy, which were occupied by Napoleon's army during

that time. The Italian tricolor was officially adopted by the Cisalpine Republic in

1798. This flag was in the shape of a square, and the three colors were

represented in vertical bands.

Flag 1860 Kingdom of Italy

In 1802, the Italian Republic was formed and adopted a new flag. This flag was

still comprised of the same three colors, but was altered in design, although it

was still in the shape of a square. The flag of the Italian Republic was red with a

white rhombus in the center and a green square in the middle of the white.

The Italian Republic soon became the Kingdom of Italy in 1805, when Napoleon

became emperor. The flag of the Kingdom of Italy was similar to that of the Italian

Republic, except that the square flag became rectangular in shape, and the eagle

of Napoleon was added into the center of the former design. This flagged remained

in use during Napoleon's rule, which lasted until 1814.

The Italian states were not widely united under one flag again until the year of

1848. In this year, the tricolor flag was again adopted as the national Italian flag,

with vertical stripes of red, white, and green. Savoy's coat of arms was displayed

in the center of this flag. The Venetian and Roman regions later adopted similar

flags, which further symbolized the progressing unity of the Italian states.

By the time Rome was appointed as the capital city of the Kingdom of Italy in

1872, a crown had been added to the center of the tricolor flag by King Vittorio

Emanuele II. The crown and Savoy's coat of arms remained as a part of Italy's flag

until Italy officially became a republic in 1946, ending the monarchy rule. The

flag now consisted only of the red, white, and green vertical stripes. This design

has remained as Italy's national flag to date.

Fascist flag

The colors of the Italian flag can be interpreted in two different ways. One is that

green symbolizes hope, while white represents faith and red signifies charity.

Another interpretation pronounces green to be the symbol of the Italian

landscape, white as the representation of the snow capping the mountains of the

Alps, and red symbolizing the bloodshed that brought about the independence of

Italy as a nation. All of these symbols embody the presence of unity and

nationalism among the Italian people.

THE ITALIAN CURRENCY

The Italian lira is a comparatively recent currency with roots that lie deep in the

past.

The word "lira" is derived from the Latin "libra", meaning pound, which makes it a distant cousin of the British pound sterling, whose Roman roots are reflected in the L-shaped £ symbol.

The lira was a unit of account long before it existed as a coin or a note.

It made its first appearance in the hands of bankers, merchants and consumers

in Venice in 1472, struck by Doge Nicolas Tron.

The Venice lira set a trend for large silver coins with enough space to bear the

local ruler's portrait.

These were called testone in Italy, from the word testa meaning head, teston in

France, and testoon in Britain, where the first example was a shilling minted by Henry VII in 1504.

However, the lira remained just one of many silver coins circulating in the states that later joined together to make up modern Italy.

Some of these were works of art: the Italian sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini was employed to cut dies for coins when Florence became a duchy under

the Medici.

The lira became the name of Italy's national currency after unification in 1860.

It was made up of 100 centesimi, the smallest coins made of copper, and larger

ones of silver. Coins of 10 lire and above were struck in gold.

But inflation gnawed relentlessly away at the descendants of the doge's

magnificent testone.

The one and two centesimi coins disappeared in 1918. The smaller silver lire

changed to nickel then stainless steel, and finally, after World War II, aluminium.

The one and two lire coins disappeared altogether in 1984, though a 500 lire coin

continued to be issued in silver until 1982.

Italy's rich artistic history has also been reflected on its banknotes.

The highest denomination lire notes celebrate Bernini, Caravaggio and Raphael.

Euro coins

The Italian euro coins will depict, among other things, Botticelli's Venus and

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian man.

The Vatican has been issuing variations on Italian coinage since 1929. Its euro

coins will continue to depict the Pope's head.

A curious appendix to the recent history of the lira came in 1935, when Italy's

fascist leader Benito Mussolini invaded and quickly conquered Abyssinia.

Instead of attempting to conduct business there in the lira, Mussolini acquired

the dies of the silver thaler produced under the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa

(1717-1780) and began to mint them in Italy.

The thaler - which gave its name to the dollar - was the coin of choice in the

region, a genuinely hard currency used in trade with countries such as India and

China.

For older Italians the euro will, at least in one way, bring back memories - the

return to everyday life of centesimi, as the euro cents will be known.

Banknotes circulating in 1951

Banknotes circulating in 1973

Banknotes circulating in 1982

Banknotes circulating in 2000

ITALIAN EURO COINS

Italian euro coins have a design unique to each denomination, though there is a

common theme of famous Italian works of art from one of Italy's renowned artists.

Each coin is designed by a different designer, from the 1 cent to the 2 euro coin

they are: Eugenio Driutti, Luciana De Simoni, Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini, Claudia

Momoni, Maria Angela Cassol, Roberto Mauri, Laura Cretara and Maria Carmela

Colaneri. All designs feature the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint, the

overlapping letters "RI" for Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic) and the letter R

for Rome.[1] There are no Italian euro coins dated earlier than 2002, even though

they were certainly minted earlier, as they were first distributed to the public in

December 2001.

The choice of the design of the coins was left to the Italian public by means of a

television broadcast where alternative designs were presented, letting the people

vote by calling a certain telephone number. However, the 1 euro coin was missing

in this election, because Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the then Economy minister, had

already decided it would sport the Vitruvian man of Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo's work is highly symbolical as it represents the Renaissance focus on

man as the measure of all things, and has simultaneously a round shape that fits

the coin perfectly. As Ciampi observed, this represents the "coin to the service of

Man", instead of Man to the service of money.

ITALIAN EURO DESIGN

€ 0.01

The Castel del Monte, a 13th century castle in Andria

€ 0.02

Mole Antonelliana, a tower symbolising the city of Turin

€ 0.05

The Colosseum in Rome, famous Roman amphitheatre

€ 0.10

The Birth of Venus by painter Sandro Botticelli

€ 0.20

The futurist sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by

Umberto Boccioni

€ 0.50

The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

€ 1.00

Vitruvian Man, drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

€ 2.00

Portrait of Dante Alighieri by painter Raphael