The author returns, after a few years, to the theme of the nomination of life senators on the part of the president of the republic, in order to give an account of the recent applications of the relative norms &, in particular, of the paths leading to reform of those norms within the wider context of constitutional reform. The author also takes note of the recent "extra-institutional" phenomenon consisting in the fact of numerous "candidatures" being put forward informally &, conversely, the three nominations made by the current president Ciampi (2001/2004). The author concludes with some critical considerations concerning the utility of the institution of presidential nomination of life senators. Adapted from the source document.
The author offers personal insight on Italian philosopher, Norberto Bobbio. He narrates his personal relationship with Bobbio, trying to describe the professor from a different perspective than those already offered by popular bibliographies & mainstream publications. The main focus is the important contribution that Bobbio offered in the political science arena. Tracing his biography & work from his contributions to juridical positivism, all the way to his public commitment as senator, the author offers an intimate relation of Bobbio's ideals & accomplishments as he shaped Italian political science, integrating it with philosophical elements. M. Williamson
In this essay the author chooses to develop the stimulating & intricate theme of liberal socialism from the perspective of cultural-political reviews. After a short reference to the forerunners, like John Stuart Mill & Leonard Hobhouse, the author illustrates the rebirth of a meeting proposal between liberalism & socialism in the middle of the twenties of the last century. With regard to this, beside Carlo Rosselli's notes, the contributions of Arturo Labriola & Guido De Ruggiero come out respectively in "Critica Sociale" & "La Rivoluzione Liberale." The author underlines the newness of these attitudes starting from Labriola's theories. Labriola thinks that the right time has come for the socialism to deliver its teaching from what he calls the "asiatic heritage," which exerted its influence on socialist doctrine by a choking & centralizing collectivism conditioning the individual to coercive institutions as "clan," "caste," "State," &, after 1917, the "one party system." The Italian scholar opposes to this heritage, belonging to the Eastern culture & society, the Western political tradition based on man's rights & freedom. Guido De Ruggiero's contribution -- though almost unknown to scholars -- originates from British political situation & develops in a meaning of liberty that trespasses on territory of equality creating the fundamental concept of his proposal: the "equality of opportunity." However the "equality of opportunity," needs a particular version of liberalism & socialism because it can be carried out only if liberalism is open to social action, a "new liberalism" as De Ruggiero calls it. By this way socialism cannot be Marxist & collectivist, because of freedom requirements. 20 References. Adapted from the source document.
The author analyzes the form of government of premiership with reference to the parliamentary system taking GB as a model, being "mother" of both forms of government. However, the British premiership, as it is expressed in the English Constitution, is not applicable to other situations; this is true also if we tried to reproduce exactly all the characteristics of the British system, starting from a non-written constitution. The author proves that the premiership is the evolution of the parliamentary government, that is a specification of the latter, since it maintains the trust between the government & the parliament. The premiership is characterized by having the Prime Minister, indicated (not elected!) by the electoral body, as head together with its majority; in consequence, he has a double trust, electoral & parliamentary. The Prime Minister's role becomes stronger since he holds personal & particular powers, as the appointment & the reversal of his ministers & the early dissolution of the Chambers; in this way the Prime Minister can choose when to return to his electors. In this context it is necessary to emphasize the role of the Parliament, of the parliamentary opposition & of the political parties. Adapted from the source document.
A recently established field of political studies aims at explaining historical events through models drawn from Rational Choice & Game Theory. This blend between history & theory is now generally indicated as Analytic Narratives, which is the name of an influent book published a few years ago. In this essay the author applies the approach of analytic narratives to the period immediately after WWII when the anti-Fascist parties alliance was superseded by majority governments between the Christian Democratic Party & its smaller moderate allies & the Socialist & the Communist parties were excluded from government. The paper maintains that that passage can be analyzed through the debates in the constitutional assembly elected in June 1946. It focuses on the question of the relations between the Italian Republic & the Vatican State. The Communist Party, contrary to general expectations, voted in favor of the Catholic position that eventually prevailed. The paper makes use of well-known historical documents to plot parties' positions in the political space. Then the author explains the unexpected Communist choice considering its unwillingness to face religious confrontation, & its hope to be accepted as a long-term government partner by the Catholic Party. On the basis of the spatial theory of rational voting, the paper shows that both hypotheses are consistent with the preferences of the parties & their view of the political situation. This choice reveals the disregard of the Communist Party toward the Socialist & the other Left parties, a theoretical finding confirmed by historical research. 2 Tables, 6 Figures, 45 References. Adapted from the source document.
This article analyzes (in terms of "normal science") the two typologies of democratic forms of government elaborated by Arend Lijphart in the last two decades. According to Lijphart, the different forms of government are fundamental variables to define different types of democratic regime. Lijphart marks the difference between presidentialism & parliamentarism without including semipresidentialism in his typologies. On the contrary, as pointed out by Giovanni Sartori, the semipresidential form of government keeps a specific position, both in theoretical & empirical terms. Starting from Sartori's point of view, in the second part of the article, the author elaborates a new typology of democratic forms of government. Based on Lijphart's methodological criteria, the new typology includes, together with presidential & parliamentary, also semipresidential forms of government. 5 Tables, 152 References. Adapted from the source document.
A review symposium on a book by Richard J. Samuels, Machiavelli's Children. Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan (Ithaca & London: Cornell U Press, 2003), with contributions from Michele Salvati, Mauro Calise, & Leonardo Morlina & a reply by author Samuels. The book offers a detailed comparison between Italy & Japan from the Union of Italy & the Meiji Restoration to present days. One hundred fifty years of parallel history reveal that the two countries had similar nation- & state-building experiences. In the 19th Century both countries were forced to fill the economical gap separating them from more developed countries. They also struggled to maintain the general consensus during times of intense structural development that required strenuous sacrifices from their population. In both cases such consensus was never achieved through real democratic participation, until their defeat in WWII. The comparison also shows the deep differences between the pre-fascist, liberal Italian state & the Japanese totalitarian regime. However, after WWII, similarities increase again, especially after the American occupation & its commitment to export democracy. M. Williamson
In this paper the author statistically analyses the main results of the 2004 elections for Italian Members of the European Parliament. Compared to the previous European elections, of 1999, there was an increase in turn out of 1.9 percent, thus bringing to a halt the negative trend which characterized Italian European elections from 1979 to 1999. In terms of the distribution of valid votes among the official lists, there was a significant swing away from Forza Italia & from the Bonino-Pannella list, a minor worsening of the position of the main Centre-left list (Uniti nell'Ulivo), & an improvement for Rifondazione Comunista, Alleanza Nazionale, Unione di Centro, the Lega Nord, Comunisti Italiani & the Greens (Verdi). Finally, it is noted that in terms of preferences in favour of the candidates of the lists voted for, although in each of Italy's five constituencies voters were allowed to express up to three preferences, the number of preferences expressed was in fact lower than in 1999. Adapted from the source document.
