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Italy Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Italy
Official Name: Italian Republic
Capital: Rome
Area: 301,270 square kilometres ( 116,321 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Rome 2,775,250 (1991)
Milan 1,369,231 (1991)
Naples 1,067,365 (1991)
Turin 962,507 (1991 estimate)
Palermo 698,556 (1991)
Genoa 678,771 (1991)
Bologna 404,378 (1991)
Florence 403,294 (1991)
Bari 342,309 (1991)
Catania 333,075 (1991)
Venice 309,422 (1991)
Population: 57,187,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 0.1 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed)
Constitution: 1 January 1948
Voting Rights: Universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)
Government
The president is head of state, though the duties of the office are mostly ceremonial. Executive power is in the hands of the prime minister and a Council of Ministers. The bicameral parliament consists of a 630-member Chamber of Deputies and a 315-member Senate. The country is divided into 20 regions, some of which would like to have greater autonomy from the central government in Rome. Except in senate elections, where the voting age is 25, all citizens aged 18 or older may vote.
Recent History
In World War I Italy reneged on its alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary and fought on the side of the United Kingdom and France. At the end of the war Italy was awarded South Tyrol (now part of Trentino-Alto Adige) and Trieste, but Fiume and Dalmatia, which it had wanted, went to the new Yugoslav federation. Dissatisfaction with the terms of the peace was one of the reasons for the subsequent rise of fascism.
In 1922, after a general strike gave the Fascists an excuse to march on Rome, Victor Emmanuel III asked Benito Mussolini—the Fascist leader who had once been a prominent socialist journalist—to form a new government. A few years later Il Duce, or “the leader”, as Mussolini was called, assumed dictatorial powers. Mussolini formed an alliance with Nazi Germany in 1936, and Italy joined World War II on Germany’s side in June 1940. Italy fared badly in the war and was invaded by the Allies in 1943. Mussolini was dismissed and put in prison. He was freed that autumn by German paratroopers and sought to re-establish himself in northern Italy, but in 1945 he was captured and executed by Italian partisans.
In 1946 the Italian people voted in favour of forming a republic, and a new constitution came into force in 1948. Since then, and as a result of the system of proportional representation introduced to prevent the return of totalitarianism, Italy has had a constant stream of governments (more than 50), most of which have been Christian Democrat-led coalitions. The system became increasingly corrupt, however, and in 1993 investigations into corruption implicated hundreds of politicians, including Giulio Andreotti and Bettino Craxi, former prime ministers. In a referendum in April 1993, the people voted overwhelmingly for substantial political reform. In May 1993 a new prime minister, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, committed the government to political reform and promised to honour voters’ wishes.
As corruption scandals spread, however, Ciampi resigned in January 1994. Parliament was dissolved, and early elections were called at which the people turned away from the discredited Christian Democrats (renamed the Popular party) and the Socialists. Instead, business and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (“Let's go, Italy”) party and his “Freedom Alliance” with the separatist Northern League and the neo-Fascist National Alliance were voted into power—on promises of running a clean government and stimulating the economy. In December 1994, after the Northern League withdrew its support, Berlusconi, who was also facing investigation on bribery charges, resigned. In January 1995 Lamberto Dini was made prime minister of an interim government. He resigned in January 1996, having fulfilled his mandate, but continued in office until elections were held in April.
The April elections brought a historic change: a coalition known as the Olive Tree won the opportunity to form post-war Italy’s first leftist government. The coalition’s largest constituent party was the Democratic Party of the Left; it also included former Christian Democrats and Dini’s newly formed Italian Renewal Party. Olive Tree gained control of the senate and more seats than any other group (284) in the chamber of deputies. However, the coalition lacked an absolute majority in the chamber unless it could gain the support of the hard-line Marxist Communist Refoundation Party (which won 35 seats) or the Northern League (which won 59 seats).
Romano Prodi, an economics professor, was sworn in as prime minister, pledging to cut spending and reduce unemployment. His cabinet included Antonio Di Pietro, a former prosecutor who had led the nationwide investigations into corruption in the early 1990s. Di Pietro became public works minister.
The corruption scandals continued, engulfing prominent politicians as well as business leaders and others. Former Prime Minister Andreotti was charged with extending favours to the Sicilian Mafia in exchange for votes and political support. His trial, expected to last several years, began in September 1995; two months later he was also charged, along with four other people, with the 1979 murder of a journalist who had been investigating the Mafia’s political ties. In January 1996 Berlusconi went on trial on charges of bribing tax police to gain favourable treatment for one of his media companies.
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