Aspects of the Italian Political System

Aspects of the Italian Political System WG – Comparative Research Edoardo Bressanelli Italy in the international literature: Almond (1956): - 3 types of political systems - Italy in the ‘Continental’ group: fragmentation of political culture/separate political subcultures [Political Culture Political Stability] - Instability, political immobilism, danger of totalitarianism Lijphart, 1968: ELITE BEHAVIOR POLITICAL CULTURE Homogeneous Consensual Depoliticized Democracy (e.g. US) Consociational Democracy (Belgium, Low Countries, Austria) Conflictual Centripetal Democracy (UK, New Zealand) Centrifugal Democracy (Germany, France, ITALY) Fragmented Lijphart’s dimensions: an overview Executive – parties cluster Majoritarian 1. Concentration of power in a single party majority cabinet 2. Domination of executivelegislative relations by the executive 3. Two-party Consensual 1. Broad coalition 2. Policy-influencing legislature 3. Multi-party system 4. Majoritarian Electoral system 4. Proportional Electoral (FPTP, double ballot) System 5. Pluralist Interest Groups 5. Corporatist Interest Groups Federal-Unitary Cluster Majoritarian 1. Unitary and centralized government Consensual 1. Devolved government 2. Unicameral legislature 2. Powerful second chamber (territorial representation) 3. Flexible Constitution 3. Written Constitution 4. Legislature determines 4. External judicial review of constitutionality of its own laws constitutionality 5. Executive dependent Central 5. Independent Central Bank Bank Lijphart (1999): “Kinder, gentler democracies”? Martin Rhodes (FT, January 20th, 2008): • “Despite the promises of the new, so-called “Second Republic” launched in the early 1990s, Italy remains the least well-governed country in Europe” • “A new analysis of reform over the last 15 years uncover little real progress” • “Elsewhere, immobilismo reigns” • Institutional ‘layering’ • Disillusionment of public opinion: “frenetic but often fruitless activity of its over paid politicians” West European Politics, No. 3, 1979 Italy: crises, crisis or transition? (Tarrow) West European Politics, No. 1, 1997 “between crisis and transition: Italian politics in 1990s” (Rhodes, Bull) West European Politics, No. 4, 2007 “Italy: a contested polity” (Rhodes, Bull) Italian history: a brush-up • • • ‘First Republic’: 1948 – 1992 1992-1994: Referendum: change in the electoral law Anti-corruption trials: clean hand operation Protest parties – Northern League Fall of the Berlin Wall Maastricht Treaty ‘Second Republic’: 1994 - … Regime change? Formal constitution untouched… Parties and Party System Italian ‘polarized pluralism’ (Sartori, 1976) • Relevant anti-system party A party wishing to change not the government but the very system of government Anti-system parties represent an extraneous ideology – indicating a polity confronted with maximal ideological distance. • Presence of bilateral oppositions “in the polarized polities we find instead two oppositions that are mutually exclusive” • Along the left-right dimension, the metrical center of the system is occupied. Mechanics of the system are centrifugal • Political opinion is highly polarized Cleavages are deep/consensus low/legitimacy questioned • Centrifugal trends: enfeeblement of the center. • Presence of irresponsible oppositions. • The leading party of the center is not exposed to alternation: “its destiny is to govern indefinitely” “This variety of multipartism is an unhealthy state of affairs” The centrality of parties: Italy as partitocrazia (vs. party government): 1) Control of appointments in the public sector: more capillary 2) Scarce accountability 3) No alternative (except if due to regime change) “Imperfect two-party system” (Galli): “Conventio ad excludendum” Format: 7 ‘significant’ parties: DC (Christian-Democrats) PCI (Communists) PSI (Socialists) PLI (liberals) PRI (Republicans) PSDI (Social-Democrats) MSI (neo-Fascists) Cleavages: - Communism/anti-Communism - Left/right - Clericalism/anti-clericalism New parties and party system: 1994 elections Mix of new parties and old parties renovating their identities • PDS (former PCI): split of its most leftist wing (PRC – Communist Re-foundation) • AN (former MSI) – from neo-Fascism to Conservative identity • PPI, CCD (former DC) • Patto Segni (reformist party) • Northern League (regionalist party) • Greens • FI – Silvio Berlusconi’s party Elections and electoral laws 18 April 1948: • PR system with 32 constituencies for the Lower Chamber (Camera) • De facto PR system operating in regional district in the Upper Chamber (Senato) 1953: legge truffa: failure • Bonus favoring the coalition achieving 50percent+1 of the votes Proportional formulas were present at all level (municipal, provincial, regional) Referendum abrogativo • 1993: mixed-plurality system • 1991: first referendum: abolition of the multiple preference vote • 1993: second referendum: the threshold of the 65% to get a seat in single-member constituencies in the Senate is dropped – the simple majority is sufficient. ‘Revolutionary change in the Italian party system’ (Cotta, Verzichelli, 2007:74; Gilbert, 1995) Laws 277/1993 and 278/1993: ‘Mattarellum’ (‘somewhat crazy’) Effects of FPTP: - Centrality of coalition making for winning the single-member seats - Unified national campaign - Elaboration of a program for the whole coalition 2005: new electoral reform ‘Porcellum’ Assessing the magnitude of change Demand-side: Turn-out: between 1948 and 1979 higher than 90% Three types of party-voters relationships (Parisi, Pasquino, 1979) • Identity vote (dominant) • Opinion vote (marginal) • Exchange vote (important) …very high stability Source: adapted from Bardi, 2007 Source: adapted from Bardi, 2007, 723 Source: adapted from Bardi, 2007, 727 Source: Chiaramonte, 2007 Executive Head of the State (President of the Republic) • Elected by secret vote in a Joint Meeting of the two Chambers • Mandate: 7 years • Formal Powers: nominate head of government and ministers, dissolve parliament, call elections, promulgate laws, send messages to the Chambers, some nominations… Government • Vote of Confidence by each of the two Chambers • Which model? Collegial or Prime Ministerial Model? • Law-making process: law decree (necessity and urgency), law proposals (average time to be transformed in law: 9 months; Pasquino, 2006:28), delegating laws. ‘First Republic’ 50 governments 16 PM average duration 11 months Three features: • Coalition cabinets (including the DC) • ‘Peripheral alternation’ • PM relatively weak ‘Second Republic’ Since 1994… • Alternation • PM more important • Duration of cabinets longer Source: Verzichelli, 2006 Parliament • ‘Policy Influencing’ Parliament (Norton, 1998) • Italy as “democracy without government” • Coequal and symmetrical bicameralism (bicameralismo perfetto) • Large numbers: 630 deputies, 315 senators (+life senators) Formal Powers: • Law-making (also in Committees) • Control of the executive (censure, budgetary approval, commissions of enquiry, oversight…) • Nominations (Constitutional Court, RAI…) Italy: ‘consociational democracy’? • In government: opening to the left in the Seventies grande coalizione (“semi-consociation” – PCI failed to get any cabinet post; Tarrow, 1980, Pridham, 1987) • In parliament (Di Palma): “the bills with the greatest record of success are ‘grand-coalition’ bills’ (both in Committees and in plenary) • Conference of Parliamentary Groups Leader (agenda setting): decisions based on unanimity • A number of parliamentary offices is left to the opposition (e.g Speaker of the Lower Chamber) • Contra Sartori (1976): consensus is reached on leggine – not on the rules of the game Changes in the Second Republic: • Reducing legislative overflow • Government bigger rate of success in parliament • Reduction of the number of laws made by committees (around 20%) • More majoritarian patterns? MPs turn-over: Source: Verzichelli, 2004 A never-ending transition? • Prospects • Reforms • Party System Change