Both houses are elected for a maximum of 5 years, but either may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term. Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both.
The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and subsequent statutes.
There is only partial judicial review of legislation in the American sense. A constitutional court, which passes on the constitutionality of laws, is a post-World War II innovation. Its powers, volume, and frequency of decisions are not as extensive as those of the U.
Supreme Court. There have been frequent government turnovers since The dominance of the Christian Democratic DC Party during much of the postwar period lent continuity and comparative stability to Italy's political situation. From to , Italy faced significant challenges as voters--disenchanted with past political paralysis, massive government debt, extensive corruption, and organized crime's considerable influence--demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms.
In referendums, voters approved substantial changes, including moving from a proportional to a largely majoritarian electoral system and the abolishment of some ministries. Major political parties, beset by scandal and loss of voter confidence, underwent far-reaching changes. New political forces and new alignments of power emerged in March national elections: There was a major turnover in the new parliament, with out of deputies and out of senators elected for the first time. The elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi--and his "Freedom Pole" coalition--into office as Prime Minister.
However, Berlusconi was forced to step down in January when one member of his coalition withdrew support. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a technical government headed by Prime Minister Lamberto Dini, which fell in early In April , national elections were again held and led to the victory of a center-left coalition the Olive Tree led by Romano Prodi.
Prodi's government became the third-longest to stay in power before he narrowly lost a vote of confidence by three votes in October Ciampi, a former Prime Minister, and actual Minister of Treasury, was elected on the first ballot with an easy margin over the required two-thirds votes. Italy's dramatic self-renewal transformed the political landscape between and Party changes were sweeping. Other major parties, such as the Socialists, saw support plummet.
A trend toward two large coalitions--one on the center-left and the other on the center-right--emerged from the April regional elections. For the national elections, the center-left parties created the Olive Tree coalition while the center right united again under the Freedom Pole.
This emerging bipolarity represents a major break from the fragmented, multiparty political landscape of the postwar era. The same rankings generally apply in the Senate. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial state ranked as the world's fifth-largest industrial economy.
Italy has few natural resources. With much of the land unsuited for farming, it is a net food importer. There are no substantial deposits of iron, coal, or oil. Proven natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic, have grown in recent years and constitute the country's most important mineral resource.
Italy's economic strength is in the processing and the manufacturing of goods, primarily in small and medium-sized family-owned firms. Its major industries are precision machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electric goods, and fashion and clothing. Italy is in the midst of a slow economic recovery but lags behind most of its west European neighbors.
Italy's economy accelerated from anemic 0. Domestic demand and exports were the dominant factors in GDP growth. On inflation, Italy is now firmly within norms specified for Economic and Monetary Union EMU , a major achievement for this historically inflation-prone country. Consumer inflation fell from 3.
The agreement on wage adjustments, which has helped keep wage pressures on inflation low, remains in effect. Tight monetary policy by the Bank of Italy also has helped bring inflation expectations down. Since , economic policy in Italy has focused primarily on reducing government budget deficits and reining in the national debt. Successive Italian governments have adopted annual austerity budgets with cutbacks in spending, as well as new revenue raising measures.
Italy has enjoyed a primary budget surplus, net of interest payments, for the last 7 years. Order from Chaos. A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era.
Read all the Order from Chaos content ». Related Books. Saving Europe By Carlo Bastasin. Order from Chaos A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era. More on International Affairs. Play Audio. However, the three regions have expressed the will to expand beyond those areas.
Following the initial agreements, the department of regional affairs and autonomies has been working on the final proposals regarding the implementation of the agreements. Since the constitutional reform, the central Government is no longer able to suspend regional legislation. Disputes either between the central Government and the Regions, or between Regions are referred before the Constitutional Court Corte costituzionale [23]. The Regions and the autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano participate in the EU decision-making process in the areas falling within their competences[24].
It is obliged to do so if the State-Regions Conference demands so with an absolute majority[25]. Revenues are derived from taxation own-source and shared , grants, and other sources. For detailed information on fiscal decentralisation in Italy, a report on fiscal decentralisation or federalism of local and regional authorities in all member states is available. The State exercises concurrent legislative power with the Regions in a number of other areas listed in Art.
The power to issue regulations shall be vested in the State regarding matters where it has exclusive legislative power, insofar as it does not devolve such power to the Regions[29]. The Regions shall have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly attributed to the State or to the concurrent legislation[30]. There is a number of matters of concurrent legislation for which the State shall only set fundamental principles[31]:. The power to issue regulations shall be vested in the Regions in all matters not subject to exclusive State competence[32].
Responsibilities of the provinces. Responsibilities of the Metropolitan Cities. The law regulates Metropolitan cities status, functions and their relationships with municipalities. Metropolitan cities are responsible of the former's provinces responsibilities:. Responsibilities of the municipalities. Administrative responsibilities of the municipalities are Art.
The chamber of deputies has members who are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system. The senate has members who are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system. Government Type: Parliamentary Republic. Coat of Arms of Italian Republic. Grades each country on a scale of 0 to , based on ten freedoms, with representing the greatest amount of economic autonomy from government intervention.
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