According to Countryaah.com, with capital city of Rome, Italy is a country located in Southern Europe with total population of 60,461,837.
Italy is a unified state and parliamentary- democratic republic, with a president as head of state. See AbbreviationFinder for how IT can stand for Italy. The executive power lies with the President of the Council of Ministers (the Prime Minister), who is appointed by the President, and with the Council of Ministers (the Government).
The country’s legislative assembly is Parliament, which consists of two chambers: the Senate with 315 members and the Chamber of Deputies with 630 members.
Constitutional
The monarchy was abolished by a referendum in 1946, and Italy became a republic. The Constitution was passed in December 1947 and entered into force on January 1, 1948.
The head of state is a president, who is elected for seven years by an electoral college consisting of Parliament’s two houses and 58 regional representatives. The president has mainly constitutional functions, but has, especially since 1990, played a significant role as a unifying figure both in the political environment and in society at large.
The executive power lies with the Prime Minister, who holds the title of Presidente del Consiglio dei ministry (Presidential Council) and the government, which is called il Consiglio dei ministri (Council of Ministers). The government is appointed by the prime minister and approved by the president. See themakeupexplorer.com for Italy travel guide.
Parliament
Legislative power has been added to Parliament, which has two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate (Senato della Repubblica) has 315 members, and in addition has five members appointed for life. The voting age for elections to the Senate is 25 years.
The Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) has 630 members, elected in the general election. The voting age is 18 years. Both houses are selected for five years, but can be dissolved sooner. The government is accountable to Parliament; in practice it has meant the Chamber of Deputies.
Election System
A new election law for elections to the National Assembly was passed in November 2017. It goes by the name of rosatellum bis, and is named after the group leader of Partito Democratico in the Chamber of Deputies, Ettore Rosato. The law was passed with the support of Partito Democratico, Alternativa Popolare, Forza Italy, Lega Nord and some other smaller parties, while among others the Five Star movement and Fratelli d’Italia were opposed.
The principle of the electoral system for elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in Italy is a mixture of majority and proportional elections. 37 percent of the representatives come from constituencies where only one representative is to be elected (majority voting), while 61 percent of the representatives must be elected according to the ratio principle in larger constituencies. 2 percent of the representatives should be elected by Italians living abroad.
According to the Election Act, the Chamber of Deputies must have 630 representatives to be elected for five years. 232 of these shall be elected directly in one-man circles according to the principle of majority voting, while 386 of the representatives shall be elected according to the principle of proportionality. 12 of the representatives will be elected by Italians residing abroad.
The Senate will have 315 representatives, who will also be elected for five years. 116 of these are chosen according to the principle of majority voting, while 193 are chosen according to the principle of proportional elections. Six representatives are elected by Italians living abroad.
The barrier is at 3 percent at national level for parties and 10 percent for coalitions.
Chamber of Deputies
| Representatives | Percent | |
| majority Election | 232 | 37 |
| ratio Options | 386 | 61 |
| People living abroad | 12 | 2 |
| 630 |
Senate
| Representatives | Percent | |
| majority Election | 116 | 37 |
| ratio Options | 193 | 61 |
| People living abroad | 6 | 2 |
| 315 |
Political parties and elections
In the period after 1946, the Christian Democrats (Democrazia cristiana) dominated Italian politics, but the party was constantly dependent on alliances with other parties. The governments rarely stayed long, and the post-war period was marked by very frequent changes of government.
The Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano) played an important role in Italian politics in the post-war period, but never joined any government after 1947.
In 1992, Italy was shaken by a major corruption scandal involving most of the established political parties. Several parties were dissolved, among them the Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano), and in the wake of this scandal arose new political parties, such as Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia. Parties Lega Nord and Alleanza Nazionale also played an important role in Italian politics in the period after 1990. The center-left side gathered in the party Partito Democratico, while comedian Beppe Grillo later turned out to be an important power factor in Italian politics with the Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle), a protest movement that has been running for election since 2010.
Heads of State in Italy
Kingdom
| Period | |
| 1861-1878 | Viktor Emanuel 2 |
| 1878-1900 | Umberto 1 |
| 1900-1946 | Viktor Emanuel 3 |
| 1946 | Umberto 2 |
Republic
| Period | |
| 1946-1948 | Enrico De Nicola |
| 1948-1955 | Luigi Einaudi |
| 1955-1962 | Giovanni Gronchi |
| 1962-1964 | Antonio Segni |
| 1964-1971 | Giuseppe Saragat |
| 1971-1978 | Giovanni Leone |
| 1978-1985 | Sandro Pertini |
| 1985-1992 | Francesco Cossiga |
| 1992-1999 | Oscar Luigi Scalfaro |
| 1999-2006 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi |
| 2006-2015 | Giorgio Napolitano |
| 2015- | Sergio Mattarella |
Prime Ministers of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is entitled Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri (Presidential Council President).
From 1861 to 1946 the prime minister’s full title was Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri del Regno d’Italia (President of the Italian Kingdom), while the 1946 title is Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic’s Prime Minister).
| Period | Prime minister |
| 1917-1919 | Vittorio Emanuele Orlando |
| 1919-1920 | Francesco Saverio Ninety |
| 1920-1921 | Giovanni Giolitti |
| 1921-1922 | Ivanoe Bonomi |
| 1922 | Luigi Facta |
| 1922-1943 | Benito Mussolini |
| 1943-1944 | Pietro Badoglio |
| 1944-1945 | Ivanoe Bonomi |
| 1945 | Ferruccio Parri |
| 1945-1953 | Alcide De Gasperi |
| 1953-1954 | Giuseppe Pella |
| 1954 | Amintore Fanfani |
| 1954-1955 | Mario Scelba |
| 1955-1957 | Antonio Segni |
| 1957-1958 | Adone Zoli |
| 1958-1959 | Amintore Fanfani |
| 1959-1960 | Antonio Segni |
| 1960 | Fernando Tambroni |
| 1960-1963 | Amintore Fanfani |
| 1963 | Giovanni Leone |
| 1963-1968 | Aldo Moro |
| 1968 | Giovanni Leone |
| 1968-1970 | Mariano Rumor |
| 1970-1972 | Emilio Colombo |
| 1972-1973 | Giulio Andreotti |
| 1973-1975 | Mariano Rumor |
| 1975-1976 | Aldo Moro |
| 1976-1979 | Giulio Andreotti |
| 1979-1980 | Francesco Cossiga |
| 1980-1981 | Arnaldo Forlani |
| 1981-1982 | Giovanni Spadolini |
| 1982-1983 | Amintore Fanfani |
| 1983-1987 | Bettino Craxi |
| 1987 | Amintore Fanfani |
| 1987-1988 | Giovanni Goria |
| 1988-1989 | Ciriaco De Mita |
| 1989-1991 | Giulio Andreotti |
| 1991-1992 | Giulio Andreotti |
| 1992-1993 | Giuliano Amato |
| 1993-1994 | Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (independent) |
| 1994-1995 | Silvio Berlusconi (center-right) |
| 1995-1996 | Lamberto Dini (independent) |
| 1996-1998 | Romano Prodi (center-left) |
| 1998-2000 | Massimo D’Alema (center-left) |
| 2000-2001 | Giuliano Amato (center-left) |
| 2001-2006 | Silvio Berlusconi (center-right) |
| 2006-2008 | Romano Prodi (center-left) |
| 2008-2011 | Silvio Berlusconi (center-right) |
| 2011-2013 | Mario Monti (independent) |
| 2013-2014 | Enrico Letta (big coalition) |
| 2014-2016 | Matteo Renzi (center-left) |
| 2016-2018 | Paolo Gentiloni (center-left) |
| 2018- | Giuseppe Conte |
Italy’s international relations
In the period after 1945, Italy has been a driving force in the work for international cooperation. The country joined NATO in 1949, the Council of Europe in 1949, the United Nations in 1955, the European Coal and Steel Alliance in 1951 and the EEC (later the European Union) in 1958. Italy is also a member of the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and the cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.
Italy is represented in Norway at its embassy in Oslo, while Norway is represented in Italy by embassy in Rome. There are Norwegian consulates in Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Florence, Genoa, La Spezia, Messina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Savona, Torino, Trieste and Venice.