Italy
Parliamentary Elections
Electoral system
- Bicameral parliament
- Chamber name: Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)
- Members (lower house): 630
- Term: 5 years
- Constituencies: 26 multi-member constituencies for 617 seats; 1 single-member constituency in Valle d'Aosta; 1 constituency for Italians abroad representing 4 geographical groups (12 seats): a) Europe (including the entire Russian Federation and Turkey); b) South America; c) North and Central America; and d) Africa, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica.
- Voting system: 1994-2005: Mixed-member system: 75 per cent of the seats allocated by plurality (475) and 25 per cent by proportional representation (155). Proportional representation by largest remainders (single-tier) with national allocation of seats. The plurality and the proportional representation tiers are linked by the mechanism of scorporo: The number of votes from second placed candidate in the single-member constituencies are subtracted from the PR votes of the linked party lists of the winning candidate in the mulit-member districts.
Since 2005: Proportional representation system for 629 of 630 seats, using blocked party lists for 617 of the 630 members elected from Italy and for the 12 members elected by Italian citizens overseas (first-past-the-post system for the single-member constituency in Valle d'Aosta). The minimum thresholds for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies are: 10 % of total valid votes (for a political coalition); 2% of total valid votes (for a political party (list) within a coalition); 4% of total votes cast nationwide (for a political party (list) which is not affiliated with any political coalition); 20% of the votes cast in their constituency (for language minority lists). However, any list obtaining the highest number of votes among all lists and which fails to win 2% of the votes cast is also entitled to a seat. If the political coalition or party with the highest number of votes fails to win 340 seats, it is given "bonus" seats to meet the 340-seat requirement. The 277 remaining seats are distributed among the other coalitions or unaffiliated lists using the whole number quotient and highest remainders method. - Voter requirements: 18 years of age; Italian citizenship.
- Voting is not compulsory.
Latest elections
The general election held on 13-14 April 2008 took place after the collapse of Romano Prodi's nine-party centre left coalition, elected with a narrow majority in April 2006. After several government crisis in 2006-2008 (prison overcrowding, foreign policy, lack of waste disposal in Naples), in the end it was reform of the electoral rules which proved the most divisive issue in the governing coalition, leading to Prodi's government's collaps.
The two principal contenders in the 2008 election were on the centre left and on the centre right. The centre left alliance consisted of the newly founded Democratic Party (PD - Partito Democratico) led by Walter Veltroni together with Italy of Values (IdV - Di Pietro Italia Dei Valori). The centre right alliance consisted of People of Freedom (Il Popolo Della Liberta' - PdL) led by Silvio Berlusconi, with the Lega Nord (LN) and the Movement for Autonomy (Movimento Per L'Autonomia - MPA). Berlusconi's coalition victory, at 46,8 % (PdL 37,39%, LN 8,30 % and MPA 1,13%) was almost 10 points clear of Veltroni's alliance. Among the factors that are seen as crucial to Berlusconi winning the election are changes in the party configuration, voters' perceptions of the preceding Prodi government, and the effect of the electoral system in translatin votes into seats.
Election results 2008, main parties. Districts.
Sources
Hancock, M.D., D.P. Conradt, B.G. Peters, W. Safran, R. Zarinski (1998). Politics in Western Europe. Basingstoke: Ma0cmillan Press LTD.
Inter-Parliamentary Union, PARLINE database on national parliaments
Constituency-Level Elections Archive (CLEA): country descriptions.
Bull, M.J. & Newell, J.L. 2009. The general election in Italy, April 2008. Electoral Studies, Vol. 28(2): 337-342
