Government & politics — Italy

• history: previous 1848 (originally for the Kingdom of Sardinia and adopted by the Kingdom of Italy in 1861); latest enacted 22 December 1947, adopted 27 December 1947,
• entered into force 1 January 1948 amendments: proposed by both houses of Parliament; passage requires two successive debates and approval by absolute majority of each house on the second vote; a referendum is only required when requested by one fifth of the members of either house, by voter petition, or by 5 Regional Councils (elected legislative assemblies of the 15 first-level administrative regions and 5 autonomous regions of Italy); referendum not required if an amendment has been approved by a two-thirds majority in each house in the second vote; amended many times, last in 2020

• chief of state: President
• Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015) head of government: Prime Minister Giorgia MELONI (since 22 October 2022); the prime minister's official title is President of the Council of Ministers; Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo SALVINI and Antonio TAIANI (since 22 October 2022); the deputy prime ministers' official t
• itles are Vice Presidents of the Council of Ministers cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, known officially as the President of the Council of Ministers and locally as the Premier; nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers are known officially as Vice
• Presidents of the Council of Ministers elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 24-29 January 2022 (eight rounds) (next to be held in 2029); prime minister appointed by the president,
• confirmed by parliament election results: 2022: Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) reelected president; electoral college vote count in eighth round - 759 out of 1,009 (505
• vote threshold) 2015: Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) elected president; electoral college vote count in fourth round - 665 out of 995 (505 vote threshold)

Description

bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of: Senate or Senato della Repubblica (200 elected seats; 122 members in multi-seat constituencies directly elected by proportional representation vote, 74 members in single-seat constituencies directly elected by plurality vote, and 4 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad directly elected by proportional representation vote; all members serve 5-year terms) Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (400 seats; 245 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; 147 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by plurality vote and 8 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)

Elections

• Senate - last held on 25 September 2022 (next to be held no later than December 2027) Chamber of Deputies - last held on 25 September 2022;

Note

snap elections were called when Prime Minister DRAGHI resigned, and the parliament was dissolved on 21 July 2022 (next to be held on 30 September 2027)

Election Results

• - Senate - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - center-right coalition (FdI 65, Lega 30, FI 18), center-left coalition (PD 40, AVS 3), M5S 28, Action-Italia Viva 9, SVP 2, MAIE 1, ScN 1
• composition (as of September 2022) - men 131, women 69, percent of women 34.5% Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - center-right coalition (FdI 119, Lega 66, FI 45), center-left coalition (PD 69, AVS 12, +EU 2), M5S 52, Action-Italia Viva 21, SVP 3, MAIE 1, ScN 1
• composition (as of September 2022) - men 271, women 129, percent of women 32.3%;

Note

total Parliament percent of women 33%

Note

• in October 2019, Italy's Parliament voted to reduce the number of Senate seats from 315 to 200 and the number of Chamber of Deputies seats from 630 to 400
• a referendum to reduce the membership of Parliament held on 20-21 September 2020 was approved, effective for the September 2022 snap election

• highest court(s): Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione (consists of the first president (chief justice), deputy president, 54 justices presiding over 6 civil and 7 criminal divisions, and 288 judges; an additional 30 judges of lower courts serve as supporting judges; cases normally heard by 5-judge panels; more complex cases heard by 9-judge panels); Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of the cour
• t president and 14 judges) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president of the republic; judges may serve for life; Constitutional Court judges - 5 appointed by the president, 5 elected by Parliament, 5 elected by select higher courts;
• judges serve up to 9 years subordinate courts: various lower civil and criminal courts (primary and secondary tribunals and courts of appeal)

15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 autonomous regions (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma) regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, Veneto autonomous regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardegna (Sardinia), Sicilia (Sicily), Trentino-Alto Adige (Trentino-South Tyrol) or Trentino-Suedtirol (German), Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley) or Vallee d'Aoste (French)

• Action-Italia Viva [Carlo CALENDA and Matteo RENZI]
• Associative Movement of Italians Abroad or MAIE [Ricardo Antonio MERIO]
• Brothers of Italy or FdI [Giorgia MELONI]
• Democratic Party or PD [Elly SCHLEIN]
• Five Star Movement or M5S [Giuseppe CONTE]
• Forza Italia or FI [Antonio TAJANI]
• Free and Equal (Liberi e Uguali) or LeU [Pietro GRASSO]
• Greens and Left Alliance or AVS [Angelo BONELLI]
• Italexit [Gianluigi PARAGONE]]
• League or Lega [Matteo SALVINI]
• More Europe or +EU [Emma BONINO]
• Popular Union or PU [Luigi DE MAGISTRIS]
• South calls North or ScN [Cateno DE LUCA]
• South Tyrolean Peoples Party or SVP [Philipp ACHAMMER] other minor parties

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one
• yes residency requirement for naturalization: 4 years for EU nationals, 5 years for refugees and specified exceptions, 10 years for all others

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMOGIP, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission

Ambassador Jack Markell (since September 2023); note - also accredited to San Marino embassy: via Vittorio Veneto 121, 00187 Roma mailing address: 9500 Rome Place, Washington DC 20521-9500

telephone

[39] 06-46741

FAX

[39] 06-4674-2244

Email address and website

• uscitizenrome@state.gov
• https://it.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general

Florence, Milan, Naples

chief of mission

Ambassador Maria Angela ZAPPIA (since 15 September 2021)

chancery

3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 612-4400

FAX

[1] (202) 518-2154

Email address and website

• washington.ambasciata@esteri.it
• https://ambwashingtondc.esteri.it/ambasciata_washington/en/

consulate(s) general

Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco consulate(s): Charlotte (NC), Cleveland (OH), Detroit (MI), Hattiesburg (MS), Honolulu (HI), New Orleans, Newark (NJ), Norfolk (VA), Pittsburgh (PA), Portland (OR), Seattle