The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the
Italian Republic
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the
Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy
The Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy ( it, Parlamento del Regno d'Italia) was the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established in 1861 to replace the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia and lasted until 18 June 1946, when i ...
(1861–1943), the transitional
National Council (1945–1946) and the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
(1946–1948). It is a
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
with 600 elected members and a small number of unelected members (''senatori a vita''). The Italian Parliament is composed of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
(with 400 members or ''deputati'' elected on a national basis), as well as the
Senate of the Republic (with 200 members or ''senatori'' elected on a regional basis, plus a small number of
senators for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...
or ''senatori a vita'', either appointed by the President of the Republic or former Presidents themselves, ''ex officio'').
The two Houses are independent from one another and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...
. By the Constitution, the two houses of the Italian Parliament possess the same powers; perfect bicameralism has been coded in the current form since the adoption of the
Albertine Statute
The Statuto Albertino (English: ''Albertine Statute'') was the constitution granted by King Charles Albert of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848 and written in Italian and French. The Statute later became the constitution of ...
, and resurged after the dismissal of the
fascist dictatorship
A right-wing dictatorship, sometimes also referred to as a rightist dictatorship or right-wing authoritarianism, is an authoritarian or sometimes totalitarian regime following right-wing policies. Right-wing dictatorships are typically character ...
of the 1920s and 1930s. No distinction is made between deputies and senators, notwithstanding that a member of parliament cannot be at the same time both a senator and a deputy; regarding presidents and vice-presidents, the
precedence is given to the older one.
Composition of the Parliament
The number of deputies and senators was fixed by a constitutional amendment in 1963: in its original text, the Constitution provided for a variable number of Members of Parliament depending on the population. From 1963 to 2022, the Chamber of Deputies had 630 members, while the Senate had 315 elected members. Following the
2020 Italian constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum about the reduction of the size of the Italian Parliament was held in Italy on 20 and 21 September 2020. Initially scheduled to be held on 29 March, the referendum was postponed following the spread of the coronavi ...
, the number of MPs in the Parliament has been reduced from 630 to 400 in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
and from 315 to 200 in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. The proposed changes were approved, with 69.96% voting in favour. The reduction of the number of MPs came to fruition with the following
Legislature XIX of Italy
The Legislature XIX of Italian Republic ( it, XIX Legislatura della Repubblica Italiana) is the current legislature of the Italian Parliament, which started on 13 October 2022.
The composition of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Re ...
.
In addition to the 200 elected members, the Senate, as per article 59 of the
Constitution of the Italian Republic, also comprises a small number of
senators for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...
. These can be differentiated into:
# former Presidents of the Republic (''ex officio'', unless renouncing), and
# Italian citizens who are appointed senators for life by the President of the Republic (no more than five) "for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". (Only for the first parliament created following the constitutions implementation)
The
voting age
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. The most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist
( ...
mandated for both houses is the
age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...
: any Italian citizen who is eighteen or older can vote. But the two houses have a different
age of candidacy
Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which a person can legally hold certain elected government offices. In many cases, it also determines the age at which a person may be eligible to stand for an election or be granted ballot access.
The firs ...
: deputies are required to be twenty-five or older,
[Article 56 of the Constitution.] while elected senators must be forty or older.
[Article 58 of the Constitution.] No explicit age limit is required to be appointed senator for life (but Presidents of the Republic must be 50 or older).
Functions of the Parliament
The main prerogative of Parliament is the exercise of the
legislative power
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
, that is the power to enact laws. For a bill to become law, it must receive the support of both houses independently in the same text. A bill is first introduced in one of the houses, amended, and then approved or rejected: if approved, it is passed to the other house, which can amend it before approving or rejecting it. If approved without amendments, the bill is then
promulgated
Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.
After a new law ...
by the President of the Republic and becomes law. If approved with amendments, it goes back to the other house. The process continues until the bill is approved in the same text by both houses (in which case it becomes law after promulgation) or is rejected by one house.
The
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
, which is led by the
President of the Council of Ministers
The President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some Presidents of the Council of Ministers are th ...
and is the national executive of Italy, needs to have the
confidence
Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...
of both houses in order to exercise its power fully. It must receive a vote of confidence by both houses before being officially in power, and Parliament can cast a
motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
at any moment, which forces the President of the Council of Ministers and his/her Cabinet to resign. The President of the Republic can dissolve one or both houses, and new elections are held if a new Prime Minister is unable to receive the support of both houses.
Legislative process
The process by which the Italian Parliament makes ordinary laws, the ''iter legis ordinario'', is as follows:
Proposals can be made by the Government, individual Members of Parliament (who must present their proposal to the Chamber that they are a member of), private citizens (who must present a proposal in the form of a draft law, approved by 50,000 voters), individual
Regional Councils, and the
National Council for Economics and Labour
The National Council for Economics and Labour (in italian, ''Consiglio nazionale dell'economia e del lavoro'' or CNEL) is a constitutional organ provided for by Article 99 of Constitution of Italy and established in 1957.
The CNEL is an assembly ...
(CNEL).
Once a proposal is introduced in one of the two Houses, it is assigned to a parliamentary committee to carry out preliminary inspection of the proposal (taking advantage of advice of other committees, especially, the so-called "filter committees"). At this point, two different procedures can be taken.
In the "normal procedure", the committee holds a referral meeting, drafts a response and names a spokesperson to report this response, then leaves the responsibility for composing and approving the bill's text to the assembly. This must be completed in no more than four months for the Chamber of Deputies and two months for the Senate.
Once the bill has come before one of the chambers, a general discussion takes place, followed by the review (with a vote) article by article, and finally a vote on the whole bill, which is normally an open ballot (secret ballots are possible for matters of individual conscience). If the bill passes the vote in one chamber then it passes to the other chamber of the parliament, where it must be voted through without any further changes. If the other chamber does make any modifications to the bill then the new version of the bill must be returned to the first chamber to approve these changes. If the bill repeats this process many times it is said to be "shuttling" or "
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
A ...
." This procedure is obligatory for bills which concern constitutional and electoral matters, the delegation of legislative power, the authorisation of the ratification of
international treaties
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
, the approval of the
budget.
In all other cases, the "special procedure" (also called the "decentralised legislative procedure") can be employed. In this case, the committee holds a drafting meeting (leaving only the final approval of the bill to the parliament), or a deliberative/legislative meeting (in which case the entire legislative process is carried out by the committee and the bill is not voted on by parliament at all). This procedure can be vetoed by the vote of one tenth of the members of the Chamber in which the bill was originally proposed, by a vote of one fifth of the members of the committee, or by the decision of the Government.
There are special procedures for the passage of laws granting
emergency powers
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
, the annual law incorporating
EU law, annual financial laws (such as the budget), and the passage of laws under urgency.
Once the bill has been approved in the same form by both houses of Parliament, it is sent to the President of the Republic, who must promulgate it within one month or send it back to Parliament for renewed debate with a written justification. If after the renewed debate the bill is approved by Parliament again, the President of the Republic is constitutionally required to promulgate it. Once it has been promulgated, the law is published in the official gazette by the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
and enters into force after the ''
vacatio legis
''Vacatio legis'' ( la, absence of law) is a technical term in law which designates the period between the announcement of a legislation and its entering into force.
This concept also exists in the Catholic canon law.Fernando della Rocca, "Manua ...
'' (15 days unless otherwise specified).
Amendments to the Constitution and to constitutional laws
The
rigidity of the Constitution is ensured by the special procedure required to amend it. With the same procedure, Parliament can adopt a constitutional law, which is a law with the same strength as the Constitution. This process is referred to as ''iter legis aggravato'', that is, a strengthened legislative process ''ad hoc'' for the passing of a constitutional law.
Article 138 of the Constitution provides for the special procedure through which the Parliament can adopt constitutional laws (including laws to amend the Constitution), which is a variation of the ordinary legislative procedure. The ordinary procedure to adopt a law in Italy requires both Houses of Parliament to approve the bill in the same text, with a simple majority (i.e., the majority of votes cast). Constitutional laws start by following the same procedure; however, after having been approved for the first time, they need to be voted for by both Houses a second time, which can happen no sooner than three months after the first. In this second reading, no new amendments to the bill may be proposed: the bill must be either approved or rejected in its entirety.
The constitutional law needs to be approved by at least a majority of all MP's in each house (absolute majority) in its second reading. Depending on the results of this second vote, the constitutional law may then follow two different paths.
* If the bill is approved by a qualified majority of two-thirds of members in each house, it can be immediately promulgated by the President of the Republic and becomes law.
* If the bill is approved by a majority of members in each house, but not enough to reach the qualified majority of two-thirds, it does not immediately become law. Instead, it must first be published in the
Official Gazette
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
(the official journal where all Italian laws are published). Within three months after its publication, a constitutional
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
may be requested by either 500,000 voters, five regional councils, or one-fifth of the members of a house of parliament. If no constitutional referendum has been requested after the three months have elapsed, the bill can be promulgated and becomes law. If a referendum is held, the constitutional law will be confirmed and promulgated only provided a simple majority of the "Yes"'s is achieved (no structural ''quorum'' is needed); however, should there be more "No"'s than "Yes"'s, then the law will not be confirmed, and will consequently be abolished without entering into force at all.
Article 139 of the Constitution holds the "form of Republic" above amendment.
Reviewing and guiding the executive
In addition to its legislative functions, Parliament also reviews the actions of Government and provides it with political direction.
Parliament exercises its review function by means of questions and inquests. Questions consist of a written question directed to the Government, asking whether a certain claim is true, whether the Government is aware of it, and whether the Government is taking any action about it. The response can be given by the relevant Government minister, by the chairperson of the relevant ministry, or by an undersecretary. It may be given in writing or delivered to the parliament orally. The member who asked the question can respond to say whether or not the answer is satisfactory. In injunctions, a fact is noted with a request for the reasons for the conduct of the Government and its future intentions. The process is done by writing. If the member who filed the injunction is not satisfied with the response, they can present a motion to hold a debate in the Parliament.
The provision of political direction embodies the relationship of trust which is meant to exist between Parliament and the Government. It takes the form of confidence votes and votes of no confidence. These can be held concerning the entire Government or an individual minister. Other means of providing political direction include motions, resolutions, and day-orders giving instruction to the Government.
Inquests
Under
Article 82 of the Constitution, "each chamber can undertake inquests into matters of public interest. For this purpose, they should appoint a committee formed so that it conforms to the proportions of the various parliamentary groups." In order to fulfill its function as the ordinary organ through which
popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...
is exercised, Parliament can employ the same investigative and coercive instruments as the judiciary in these inquests.
Joint sessions
![Camera dei deputati Aula Palazzo Montecitorio Roma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Camera_dei_deputati_Aula_Palazzo_Montecitorio_Roma.jpg)
The Parliament meets and votes in joint session ( it, Parlamento in seduta comune) for a set of functions explicitly established by the Constitution. Article 55.2 specifies that these functions are entrenched and cannot be altered.
Joint sessions take place in the building of the Chamber of Deputies at
Palazzo Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
History
The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mon ...
and are presided over by the
President of the Chamber of Deputies President of the Chamber of Deputies may refer to:
* List of presidents of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
* List of presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
* President of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
* President of the Chamber of Dep ...
''ex officio''. In this way, the drafters of the Constitution intended to establish an equilibrium with the power of the
President of the Senate to exercise the functions of the President of the Republic when the latter is indisposed.
Joint sessions take place for the following matters explicitly established by the Constitution:
*to elect the President of the Republic (in this case, 58 regional delegates are added to the assembly). For the first three votes, a two-thirds majority is required to elect the president. If these fail, subsequent votes only require a simple majority.
*to receive the President of the Republic's
oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
on election.
*to vote on the
impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
of the President of the Republic (more than an actual impeachment, it is an accusation of ''"high treason or attack to the Constitution"''; this has never happened). This only requires a simple majority.
*to elect one third of the elected members of the
High Council of the Judiciary. For the first two votes, election requires a three-fifths majority of the delegates; subsequent votes require a three-fifths majority of voting members (i.e. excluding abstentions).
*to elect five of the fifteen judges of the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
.
[Article 135 of the Constitution.] The first three votes require a two-thirds majority; subsequent votes require only a three-fifths majority.
*to vote on the list of 45 citizens from which sixteen lay members of the Constitutional Court are to be drawn in case of impeachment against the President of the Republic.
The same voting system is used as for the election of the judges of the Constitutional Court.
There is debate among legal scholars about whether the Parliament in joint session can make its own standing orders. Most scholars think it can, by analogy with the regulation of the Senate in article 65, which explicitly foresees such action.
Prerogatives
The Chambers of the Italian Parliament enjoy special prerogatives to guarantee their autonomy with respect to other parts of Government:
*Regulatory autonomy: the chambers regulate and approve the regulations which govern their internal affairs autonomously.
*Financial autonomy: the chambers decide autonomously the amount of resources they require for carrying out their functions. The
Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power.
See also
*Most of those in ...
has no jurisdiction over this.
*Administrative autonomy: Each chamber is in charge of the organisation of its own administrative facilities and the employment of its own officials (exclusively through a national public competition).
*Inviolability of the site: law enforcement officials can enter the parliament buildings only with the permission of the members of the respective chambers and they cannot be armed.
Autodichia
In some matters (e.g. employment disputes) the Italian Parliament acts as its own judicial
authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
(without using external courts), which is referred to as "''autodichia''" (self-judging). In order no. 137 of 2015 of the Italian Constitutional Court, which agreed to rehear the appeal in the Lorenzoni case, which had been dismissed the year before, it was stated that ''autodichia'' might be found in violation of the independence of the judiciary.
Parliamentary immunity
The constitution defines "Parliamentary status" in articles
66,
67,
68 and
69.
Article 67 ("Prohibition on
imperative mandate The Imperative mandate is a political system in which representatives are required to enact policies in accordance with orders or instructions received from the voters. Failure to follow these instructions may result in the representative being dis ...
) states that "every member of parliament represents the nation and performs their functions without limitation by a mandate." The members are considered to receive a general mandate from the whole electorate, which cannot be revoked by the initiative of the individual electoral district which elected them, nor by their political party. This general mandate is not subject to judicial review, only political review through constitutionally defined methods (mainly elections and referendums).
Article 68 lays down the principles of immunity (''insindacabilità'') and inviolability (''inviolabilità''), stating that "the members of parliament cannot be called to account for the opinions they express or the votes that they cast in the exercise of their functions" and that "without the permission of the chamber to which they belong, no member of parliament can be subjected to a body search or a search of their home, nor can they be arrested or otherwise stripped of their personal freedom, or imprisoned, except in the execution of a final court judgement or if caught in the act of a crime for which it is compulsory to arrest someone caught in the act. An analogous standard is required in order to put members of parliament under any form of surveillance." Neither immunity nor inviolability are prerogatives of individual parliamentarians; they are intended to protect the free exercise of Parliament's functions against judicial interference, which occurred in earlier regimes when the judiciary was under Government control and was not autonomous.
There is controversy with respect to the principle of immunity about what statements are expressed in the member's parliamentary role and the Constitutional Court distinguishes between political activities and parliamentary activities, and even with respect to the latter, distinguishes between activities which are immune and activities which are not immune because they contradict other constitutional principles and rights. The principle of inviolability results from Constitutional Law #3 of 1993, which revoked the earlier system of "authorisation to proceed" (''autorizzazione a procedere'') for convictions in cases with defined sentences.
Finally, article 69 states that "members of parliament receive compensation set down by the law," thereby affirming that parliamentarians must receive compensation and cannot renounce that compensation. This reverses the principle laid down in the Albertine Statute, which was the opposite, and is linked to the principle of equality (article 3) and the prohibition on imperative mandate (article 67).
Electoral system
The national elections for the renewal of members of the Senate of the Republic and Chamber of Deputies are regulated by Law n. 165 of 3 November 2017. It introduces a mixed electoral system in the form of
parallel voting
Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It ...
(mixed-member majoritarian), with about one-third (37%) of the seats allocated using a majoritarian system (single-member districts;
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
), and the remaining about two-thirds (63%) of the seats allocated using a proportional system (multi-member districts;
D'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
), with one round of voting. This electoral law is colloquially known as the ''Rosatellum bis'', or simply ''Rosatellum'', after
Ettore Rosato, member of the Chamber of Deputies for
Italia Viva
Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD).
History Background
Matteo Renzi sta ...
, first signatory of the law upon proposal of the bill to Parliament.
Constituencies
Election of the Senate of the Republic
![Italian senators](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Italian_senators.png)
The Senate comprises 200 members elected by universal suffrage and by citizens who are 18 or older. Out of the total number, according to the ''Rosatellum bis'':
* 74 are directly elected in single-member districts;
* 126 are elected by proportional representation on a regional basis (of whom 4 are elected in overseas constituencies).
In addition to the elected members, the Senate, as per article 59 of the
Constitution of the Italian Republic, also comprises senators for life as discussed above.
The Senate is elected on a single ballot. The ballot includes all candidates for a given single-member district (majoritarian component). For each candidate, the parties and party-lists that supported him/her are also listed, which is used to determine the proportional seats. These latter seats are allocated within each single regional constituency. A 3% minimum threshold for single party-lists is required for the proportional component (or 10% if within a coalition, so long at least one party within the coalition reached the required 3% threshold), and is calculated nationally. Notwithstanding this, a different threshold is needed for lists representing linguistic minorities, which is 20% and is calculated on a regional basis.
Election of the Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber comprises 400 members elected by universal suffrage and by citizens who are 18 or older. Out of the total number, according to the ''Rosatellum bis,''
* 147 are directly elected in single-member districts.
* 253 are elected by proportional representation on a national basis (of whom 8 are elected in overseas constituencies).
As the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies is elected on a single ballot, as indicated above for the Senate of the Republic. The only difference is that the proportional component is calculated based on the national average of the vote.
Overseas constituencies
The Italian Parliament is one of the few legislatures in the world to reserve seats for those
citizens residing abroad. There are 8 such seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 4 in the Senate of the Republic,
in accordance with Law n. 459 of 27 December 2001 (as amending articles 48, 56, and 57 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic), also known as Legge
Tremaglia.
Graphical summary
Membership
Senate of the Republic
![Palazzo Madama - Roma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Palazzo_Madama_-_Roma.jpg)
The current membership of the Senate of the Republic, following
the latest general election.
Chamber of Deputies
![Montecitorio - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Montecitorio_-_panoramio.jpg)
The current membership of the Chamber of Deputies, following
the latest general election:
See also
*
Constituent Assembly of Italy
The Italian Constituent Assembly (Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Italia ...
*
Italian Parliament (1928–1939)
*
Politics of Italy
The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly was electe ...
*
Prime Minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...
*
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Official websiteElection resources for the Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parliament of Italy
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
1861 establishments in Italy
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
Italian constitutional institutions