The Political System of the Italian Republic.

Good morning. I’m Tanya. Good to see you all. I’d like to talk to you today about political system of the Italian Republic.

I plan to be brief. And I’d be glad to answer any questions at the end of my talk.

I’ve divided my presentation into several parts, they are symbols of sovereignty, type of a political system, the president of Italy, structure of the government and some conclusion.

Let’s start with symbols of sovereignty. And first of all we will listen to the anthem of Italy to feel the atmosphere. (playing – 25 c) On the slide you can see the flag and the emblem of the country. The flag consists of three colors – green, white and red. It has been in use since 19 June 1946 and was formally adopted on 1 January 1948.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. Italy has been a unitary parliamentary republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by a constitutional referendum. Italy has a written democratic constitution

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The President of the Italian Republic, currently Giorgio Napolitano since 2006, is Italy's head of state. He represents the unity of the nation and has many of the duties previously given to the king of Italy. The President serves as a point of connection between the three branches: he is elected by the lawmakers, he appoints the executive, and is the president of the judiciary. The president is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Also as the Head of the State he can call an election or an early dissolution of the two Houses. The President is elected for seven years by a two-thirds majority of the Parliament sitting jointly with 58 regional delegates. The President is not responsible for the actions performed in the exercise of his duties, except for high treason and violation of the Constitution, for which the President can be impeached by the Parliament in joint session, with an absolute majority of its members.

And now we are moving to the Structure of Government. Italy has a parliamentary government based on a proportional voting system (means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system, if 30% of voters support a particular party then roughly 30% of seats will be won by that party). The government consists of three branches – legislative, executive and judicial.

Let’s start with a legislative branch. The parliament is perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Deputies (that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio) and the Senate of the Republic (that meets in Palazzo Madama), have the same powers. It is elected every five years. The Prime Minister, officially President of the Council of Ministers is Italy's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Republic, but must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to become in office.

The Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 12 from Italian citizens living abroad. Currently, a plurality of seats is controlled by the liberal-conservative party People of Freedom (344 seats). And at the second place – the Democratic Party (246 seats). Gianfranco Fini is the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 30 April 2008.

The Senate consists of 315 elected members, and four senators for life. The elected senators must be over 40 years of age, are elected by an electorate composed of Italian citizens aged 25 or over and, save for six senators who represent Italians living outside Italy, are elected on a regional basis. The senators for life are composed of former Presidents of the Italian Republic. Currently, a plurality of seats is controlled by the liberal-conservative party People of Freedom (174 seats) and at the second place – the Democratic Party (134 seats). Renato Schifani is the President of the Italian Senate since 29 April 2008.

And now I would like to speak about parties in the Chamber of Deputies. There are two main coalitions – the coalition of Silvio Berlusconi and the coalition of Walter Veltroni.

Mr. Berlusconi has three parties in his coalition, they are liberal-conservative such as «The People of Freedom» (the percentage of seats in the Chamber of Deputies is 38), «Lega Nord» (8%) and «Movement for Autonomy» (1%).

Mr. Veltroni has two parties in his coalition, they are democratic such as «Democratic Party» (the percentage of seats in the Chamber of Deputies is 33.1), «Italy of Values» (4.2%).

And now about executive branch. The Constitution establishes the Government of Italy as composed of the President of the Council and the Ministers. The Prime Minister, officially President of the Council of Ministers, is Italy's head of government. Mario Monti is the incumbent prime minister. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President of the Republic, but must pass a vote of confidence in Parliament to become in office.

And we are moving to the judicial power. The judiciary is a branch that is completely autonomous and independent of all other branches of power. The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law, the Napoleonic code and later statutes. The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries or constructing new courthouses.

The Constitutional Court of Italy is a supreme court of Italy. The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges: 5 appointed by the President, 5 elected by the Parliament of Italy, and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The members then elect the President of the Court by an absolute majority.

The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Palace of Justice, Rome. The Court of Cassation also ensures the correct application of law in the inferior and appeal courts. Also, it resolves disputes as to which lower court (penal, civil, administrative, military) has jurisdiction to hear a given case.

To sum up I want to say that Italy's political system is heterogeneous. It has a long history and interesting past. I hope that I was able to introduce you Italy's political system properly.

Thank you for your attention.

Here is my list of references.

And now you are free to ask me any questions.

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