The Politics of

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, one of the 20

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Italy, takes place in a framework of a

semi-presidential A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

, whereby the president of the region is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

, and of a pluriform

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

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 a ...

is vested in the Legislative Assembly of Umbria, while

executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems b ...

is exercised by the Regional Cabinet led by the President, who is directly elected by the people. The current statute, which regulates the functioning of regional institutions, has been in force since 2005. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Umbria became a stronghold of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

. The Communists and their successors (the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...

, the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

and finally the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

) have governed the region since 1970. For these reasons, Umbria was long considered part of the so-called " Red belt". The centre-left's dominance ended with the 2019 regional election, in which Donatella Tesei of Lega Nord–

was elected President of Umbria by a landslide.

Legislative branch

The Legislative Assembly of Umbria (''Assemblea Legislativa dell'Umbria'') is composed of 30 members. 24 councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

using the

largest remainder method The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with variou ...

with a Droop quota and

open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...

s, while 6 councillors (elected in bloc) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the council with PR, only 3 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 26. If the winning coalition receives less than 40% of votes special seats are added to the council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition. The council is elected for a five-year term, but, if the President suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the ''simul stabunt, simul cadent'' clause introduced in 1999 (literally ''they will stand together or they will fall together''), also the council is dissolved and a snap election is called.

Executive branch

The regional government (''giunta regionale'') is presided by the President of the Region (''Presidente della Regione''), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed of the president and the ministers or assessors (''assessori''), who are currently five, including a vice president.

List of presidents

Local government

Provinces

is divided in two

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, which have been a traditional heartland of the left, from the

to the current

Municipalities

Umbria is also divided in 92 ''

comuni The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipalities), most of which were established in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. A large majority of them are controlled by the Democratic Party.

Provincial capitals

Other municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants

Parties and elections

Latest regional election

In the latest regional election, which took place on 27 October 2019, Donatella Tesei of Lega Nord ( Lega Nord Umbria) was elected president by a landslide, ending 49 years of uninterrupted "reign" by the

and its successors. The League was largely the largest party.

References

External links

Umbria RegionLegislative Assembly of UmbriaStatute of Umbria
{{Politics of Italian Regions Umbria