I. The Parliament A truly bicameral legislature (like the U.S., but unlike most other countries)

Executive-Legislative Relations in Italy I. The Parliament II. The Executive III. Coalition-Building & Governance in the 1st Republic IV. Dynamics of ...
Author: Cordelia Norman
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Executive-Legislative Relations in Italy I. The Parliament II. The Executive III. Coalition-Building & Governance in the 1st Republic IV. Dynamics of the 2nd Republic I. The Parliament  A truly bicameral legislature (like the U.S., but unlike most other countries)

 lower house: Chamber of Deputies  representation by population  up to 5-year terms  must be at least 25 years of age  630 seats elected by closed-list PR

electoral system (w/ 54% assigned to the plurality coalition from 2005 to 2013)

 upper house: Senate  representation of regions by population  up to 5-year terms (since 1963)  must be at least 40 years of age  315 seats elected by closed-list PR  composition in practice has been similar

to the C of D, but not identical because the governability clause gave 55% to the plurality winner in each region

 Limitations on Party Government Model in Italy   

legislative commissions w/ potential autonomy individual members can submit bills  most bills are private member bills secret vote opened path to “snipers”  anonymous betrayal of party line  secret votes made accountability to voters weaker, too   use of secret vote has become increasingly restricted  final vote (third reading of bill) must now be an open vote

II. The Executive A largely parliamentary E-L system  PRESIDENT   



must be at least 50 years old 7-year term w/ possibility of unlimited re-election  however, until 2013 stalemate nobody was ever re-elected indirect election by electoral college:  delegates are Deputies, Senators, & 3 delegates per region  secret ballot election  has made party discipline more uneven… st  takes a 2/3 vote on 1 3 ballots, a majority thereafter  all presidents have had extensive political experience powers  head of state  weak veto (can be overridden by a simple majority revote)  rarely used  nominates new Prime Minister & accepts resignations  an important power when LEG is divided among candidates  can call new elections (except in last 6 months of term)  an important power when LEG is divided  not yet used unilaterally, however

 PRIME MINISTER    



member of Parliament elected by a majority of each chamber of Parliament 10% of either chamber can call of vote of no-confidence powers  head of government  chairs the Council of Ministers & its subunits  presents all ministerial appointments to the PRES  however, has not been able to hire & fire at will  controls the submission of all government bills  gets to assign the bill to legislative commissions  can make certain bills votes of confidence  can use power to renegotiate disliked bills from ministers a relatively weak prime minister historically, now stronger in the 2nd Republic  dependent on multiparty coalitions comprised of factionalized parties nd  until 2 Republic, parties did not present a public candidate to voters as “their” candidate for PM

III. Coalition-Building & Governance in the 1st Republic  The DC as the central force  DC essential because of informal rule of PCI exclusion (and, after early 1960s experiment, exclusion of MSI)

 Coalition Partners Change Slightly Over Time 

 

1950s centrist (DC, PLI, PRI, PSDI)  broke up over tensions between left & right wings that were exacerbated by inclusion of MSI during 1960-62 1960s & 1970s center-leftist (DC, PRI, PSDI, PSI) 1980s “pentapartito” (DC, PLI, PRI, PSDI, PSI)  slight decline in DC seats  from 2/3 to 3/5 of coalition  from 41% to 37% of Chamber of Deputies  DC decline & PCI moderation increased demands from partners  DC’s share of ministries fell