Italy
Italian Presidency
ceremonial head of state
7 year term
electoral college comprising the 630 members of the Chamber of
Deputies, the 320 members of the Sentate, one delegate from Val d'Aosta
region, three delgeates from each of the other 19 regions
secret ballot (therefore no party control)
on first three ballots, need 2/3 to win
on fourth, simple majority
Current President: President
Giorgio NAPOLITANO (since 15 May 2006)
elected on the first ballot in
May 1999!!
former Treasury Minister
supported by both PDS and Forza Italia!
1948-1992
Elections and Organization of Parliament
1948
constitution created 2 Houses
Chamber
of Deputies and Senate
Both
popularly elected, roughly equal in power;
Only
differences: had to be 25 to elect
Senators and senate districts larger;
Bills
must pass both chambers; no conference committees!!
why? discuss effect
Parliamentarians
were elected on proportional basis (down to 1 or 2% of vote –
Voters
used preferential voting in multi-member districts
1993
Electoral Reform
Electoral
reform essentially a compromise between interests of larger and smaller
parties
Abolished
preference voting
Created
single member districts to elect ¾ of both houses
Remaining
¼ elected from somewhat larger, multi-member districts
distributed
proportionally
Instituted a 4% threshold (although small
parties are given some advantages and larger parties
are penalized through the Scorporo method)
**There
was a later move to abolish all the PR seats, but failed to get enough
turnout
for Spring 1999 referendum
Short Term
Catalysts of Change to the Electoral System
1990s
Push to join the Euro zone
Longer Term Changes Precipitating Changes in Electoral System
Political instability
high degree of turnover in Government
54 governments in 55 years!!
Decreased religiousity/increased secularization
Increased literacy/education
Increased population mobility/urbanization
Declining party identification
Declining union membership
Shift to post-industrial society
Olive Tree
Party of the Democratic Left 21.1% (172 seats)
Communist Refoundation 8.6% (35 seats)
(promised only ad hoc support to Olive Tree Alliance)
The Greens 2.5% (21 seats)
Italian Renewal Party (Dini) 4.3% (24 seats)
The Prodi List 6.8% (72 seats)
(consisted of the Popular Party – successor to DC – got 67 seats; South Tyrolian Volkspartei, the Republican Party and others – combined got 5 seats)
Freedom Pole Alliance 246 seats
Northern League 59 seats
Others 5 seats
Prodi served 2 ½ years, resigns after Communist Refoundation deputies reject his government’s austerity budget
Prodi chosen to be president of European Commission March 1999
Massimo D’Alema (PDS) served 1 year as PM; resigned after loses in regional elections;
Giliano Amato served about a year
2001 Elections
Freedom House alliance of center-right parties
(Berlucsconi’s
Forza Italia!, Northern League and
Berlosconi – media mogul – virtual monopoly on private TV –
portrays himself as man of vision and action, il cavalieri,
“the greatest politician in the world”
Campaigns on platform of tax reform, abolition of inheritance tax
Greater flexibility on labor market
Modernization of transport system
Safer cities
Olive Tree
Alliance nominated mayor of
brought up corruption charges against Berlusconi (dismissed on appeal) no to avail; campaign more about personality than ideology.
Freedom House 42.5% (366 seats)
Olive Tree
38.7%
(242 seats)
Story on
Election
Prodi profile
Berlusconi
profile
The Union 158 (DS 62, DL 39, RC 27, Together with the Union 11,
other 19) (Prodi)
House of Freedoms 154 (FI 79, AN 41, UDC 21, LEGA 13) (Berlusconi)
other 3;
Chamber of Deputies - seats by party
The Union 348 (DS 220, RC 41, Rose in the Fist 18, Italy of
Values 17, PdCI 16, Greens Federation 15, UDEUR 10, other 11) (Prodi)
House of Freedoms 276 (FI 140, AN 71, Union of Christian and Center
Democrats 39, LEGA 26) (Berlusconi)
Other 6
Italian Party System
Highly fragmented and shifting
1946-90 stability provided by hegemony of Christian Democrats
parties often run as
“alliances” of parties – smaller parties team up, run under same
name on ballot
Italian
parties tend to be:
very centralized with top brass intervening into local nominations;
very cohesive – voting in blocs;
very disciplined – party defectors are sanctioned, expelled from clubs;
very factionalized – with parties often splitting;
under preference voting (ended in 1993 election law), locals would make bids to attract voters independent of party;
have close ties with interest groups
parentela groups – have close official relationship with party, i.e., in exchange for mobilizing voters, they had right to be consulted on appointments to cabinet, nominations of parliamentary candidates, and on matters of policy
e.g. Catholic Action and Christian Democrats
now striking out on their own;
fragmented, fluid lobbying now becoming the norm in interest group politics
Post-War
Parties and Recent Evolutions
LEFT
Democrats of The Left (DS) was PDS reformist post-Communist
party
For economic austerity, privatization of state industries, tax reduction, shifting control over tax revenues to regional and local governments, pro-European integration and a stronger NATO
Notables: Bank of
Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) orthodox Communists
Maintain welfare state, decreasing work hours, increasing pensions, opposition to NATO
Leader: Fausto Bertinotti
Notables: former PM Bettino Craxi (1983-87) (convicted
of corruption; fled to
The Italian Social Democratic Party (PSDI) even more moderate left
The Italian Republican Party (PRI) moderately left of center; prestigious.
The Christian Democratic Party (DC) center right, hegemonic party 1946-1992
Successors
are: Italian Popular Party, Christian
Democratic
Center/Christian Democratic
The Italian Liberal Party (PLI) center-right
The Italian Social Movement (MSI) neo-Fascist party; was outcast but recast by
Notable Gianfranco Fini in the 1990s; favors centralized Italy, unified national health service; revamped pension system with safety net for most needy; reformed policy of public investment in the south; retention of big public corporations (again an appeal to southern patronage); for Euro zone participation and softened stance on immigration. Kicked out younger racists who formed Social Movement Tricolored Flame (got .9% in 1996)
RIGHT
New Forces in Italian Politics:
Olive Tree
Party of the Democratic Left
Communist Refoundation
The Greens
Italian Renewal Party (Dini)
The Prodi List (Popular Party, South Tyrolian Volkspartei, the Republican Party)
Berlusconi’s
Forza Italia!
Promised “new Italian miracle”; tax cuts;
single income tax bracket of 33%; reductions in deficit; privatization of healthcare
and
pensions; new jobs;
semi-presidential system resembling
Northern League
For
regional autonomy especially regional control of tax revenues
(opposed to redistribution to south), seeks restrictions on immigration and end to colonization of northern bureaucracy by southerners;