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The essay deals with the topic of the relationship between parties and electoral systems. The author chooses to follow a historical perspective, leaving out both the influence of parties on electoral systems and the impact of electoral systems on the role and the organization of political parties. In the first part, the essay focuses on the transformation of the electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies from a proportional system to a majority system, untill the current "Italicum" system, remitted to the Constitutional Court for a legitimacy judgement. The second part deals with the characteristics of the new electoral system and with the (also paradoxal) effects that it could produce on the Italian political system. In the conclusions, the author mentions the law proposal concerning the discipline of political parties which is structured considering that the traditional model of party's organization is progressively disappearing. ; Il saggio affronta il tema dal rapporto tra partiti e sistemi elettorali secondo un approccio evolutivo, tralasciando sia il tema relativo all'influenza dei partiti sui sistemi elettorali, sia quello concernente i riflessi e i condizionamenti dei sistemi elettorali sulla vita, il ruolo e l'organizzazione dei partiti.In una prima parte è affrontata l'evoluzione storica del sistema elettorale per la Camera dei deputati delineando come, dopo una prima parte improntata al sistema proporzionale, le esigenze di maggiore stabilità politica abbiano spinto ad una svolta in senso maggioritario, culminata nel cd. "Italicum", il sistema elettorale attualmente vigente per la sola Camera.Nella seconda parte sono illustrate le caratteristiche fondamentali del nuovo sistema elettorale, tutt'ora sub iudice dinanzi alla Corte Costituzionale, mettendo in evidenza il possibile impatto e gli effetti distorti che potrebbero prodursi sul sistema politico italiano. Nelle conclusioni, si dà conto della proposta di legge di disciplina dei partiti politici attualmente all'esame del Parlamento e di come questa tenga conto del fatto che il modello classico di organizzazione di partito stia progressivamente scomparendo. ; Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest ewolucji relacji zachodzących między partiami a systemami wyborczymi. Autor pomija zarówno tematykę wpływu partii politycznych na systemy wyborcze, jak i wpływu systemów wyborczych na rozwój, rolę i organizację partii. W pierwszej części pracy przedstawione zostały poszczególne systemy wyborcze do włoskiej Izby Deputowanych, począwszy od ordynacji proporcjonalnej, poprzez przyjęcie większościowego systemu wyborczego i kończąc na obecnie obowiązującej ordynacji zwanej Italicum. W drugiej części pracy Autor omawia najważniejsze cechy nowej ordynacji wyborczej, której konstytucyjność jest obecnie badana przez Sąd Konstytucyjny, podkreślając przy tym jej, być może niekorzystny, wpływ na włoski system polityczny. W podsumowaniu Autor odnosi się do projektu ustawy o partiach politycznych, nad którą właśnie pracuje Parlament, stwierdzając, że projekt ten daje wyraz postępującemu zanikowi tradycyjnego modelu organizacji partii.

The essay deals with the topic of the relationship between parties and electoral systems. The author chooses to follow a historical perspective, leaving out both the influence of parties on electoral systems and the impact of electoral systems on the role and the organization of political parties. In the first part, the essay focuses on the transformation of the electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies from a proportional system to a majority system, untill the current "Italicum" system, remitted to the Constitutional Court for a legitimacy judgement. The second part deals with the characteristics of the new electoral system and with the (also paradoxal) effects that it could produce on the Italian political system. In the conclusions, the author mentions the law proposal concerning the discipline of political parties which is structured considering that the traditional model of party's organization is progressively disappearing. ; Il saggio affronta il tema dal rapporto tra partiti e sistemi elettorali secondo un approccio evolutivo, tralasciando sia il tema relativo all'influenza dei partiti sui sistemi elettorali, sia quello concernente i riflessi e i condizionamenti dei sistemi elettorali sulla vita, il ruolo e l'organizzazione dei partiti.In una prima parte è affrontata l'evoluzione storica del sistema elettorale per la Camera dei deputati delineando come, dopo una prima parte improntata al sistema proporzionale, le esigenze di maggiore stabilità politica abbiano spinto ad una svolta in senso maggioritario, culminata nel cd. "Italicum", il sistema elettorale attualmente vigente per la sola Camera.Nella seconda parte sono illustrate le caratteristiche fondamentali del nuovo sistema elettorale, tutt'ora sub iudice dinanzi alla Corte Costituzionale, mettendo in evidenza il possibile impatto e gli effetti distorti che potrebbero prodursi sul sistema politico italiano. Nelle conclusioni, si dà conto della proposta di legge di disciplina dei partiti politici attualmente all'esame del Parlamento e di come questa tenga conto del fatto che il modello classico di organizzazione di partito stia progressivamente scomparendo. ; Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest ewolucji relacji zachodzących między partiami a systemami wyborczymi. Autor pomija zarówno tematykę wpływu partii politycznych na systemy wyborcze, jak i wpływu systemów wyborczych na rozwój, rolę i organizację partii. W pierwszej części pracy przedstawione zostały poszczególne systemy wyborcze do włoskiej Izby Deputowanych, począwszy od ordynacji proporcjonalnej, poprzez przyjęcie większościowego systemu wyborczego i kończąc na obecnie obowiązującej ordynacji zwanej Italicum. W drugiej części pracy Autor omawia najważniejsze cechy nowej ordynacji wyborczej, której konstytucyjność jest obecnie badana przez Sąd Konstytucyjny, podkreślając przy tym jej, być może niekorzystny, wpływ na włoski system polityczny. W podsumowaniu Autor odnosi się do projektu ustawy o partiach politycznych, nad którą właśnie pracuje Parlament, stwierdzając, że projekt ten daje wyraz postępującemu zanikowi tradycyjnego modelu organizacji partii.

The fact that in the May 2001 elections, Berlusconi's coalition won a sizable majority in both Chambers does not prove that the Italian electoral system is working satisfactorily. Some governmental stability & bipolar competition have been achieved, but this outcome may also be obtained, as in several European democratic regimes, by utilizing appropriate "Pr" electoral systems. Where the existing Mattarellum has utterly failed is in the reduction of the number of parties. Moreover, the bipolar structure of the electoral-political competition seems to be the product of the "depolarization" of the party system more than of the mechanics of the electoral system as such. Indeed, the voters have decided to reward the two major coalitions & to deprive of support individual parties running alone. Within the two major coalitions, small parties retain a lot of power, have been politically rewarded, & remain in a position to play a destabilizing role (as the League did in 1994 & the Communist Refoundation in 1998). Better electoral systems than the Mattarellum can be devised. Some reforms were entertained, but failed. However, if & when they master the logic of the electoral systems, political scientists would be well advised to criticize those politicians who behave badly & to show that they do care about the functioning of the political system. Adapted from the source document.

This essay examines the effects of the electoral reforms in Italy on the behaviour of political parties, focusing on their conflicting & cooperative interaction. It identifies the incentives provided by the two different electoral systems introduced in 1993 & in 2005. It emphasizes the crucial role played by the strategic coordination between parties -- whose main product has been the making of pre-election coalitions -- in the causal path going from the electoral rules to the election results & the party system. It discusses the main features of new Italian party system & of its evolution up to the 2006 general election, particularly the establishment of a bipolar setting & the high degree of party fragmentation. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article provides a systematic test of the consequences of the electoral system for the format of the party system & the frequency of single-party majority cabinets. The test is based on Lijphart's 1994 data set (extended from 1990 to 1 Nov 2002), but excludes some of his cases, & introduces an additional indicator of the number of parties. Thanks to these changes in the research design, the variance explained by multivariate regression is much higher than Lijphart's results, especially as long as the elective parties (ie, the psychological effects of the electoral system) are concerned. At the same time, the post-1990 data show a decline of the predictive power of the main independent variable ("effective" threshold). In order to explain this decline, the author argues that the growing destructuration of Western parties & party systems occurring since the early 1990s should be taken into account. Indeed, entering into the regression an indicator of such a process (total net volatility) compensates for most of the threshold's lost explanatory power, thus suggesting that destructuration is a far more significant variable than previously recognized by the relevant literature. 11 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on books by (1) R. Dalton & M. Wattenberg (Eds), Parties without Partisans. Political Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2000); (2) R. Gunther, J. Linz, & J. R. Montero (Eds), Political Parties. Old Concepts, New Challenges (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2002); (3) L. Diamond & R. Gunther, Parties and Democracy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U Press, 2001); (4) P. Mair, W. Muller, & F. Plasser (Eds), Political Parties and Electoral Change (Oxford: Oxford U Presss, 2004); & (5) R. Dalton, Democratic Challenges. Democratic Choices (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2004).

This article examines the territorial composition of Italian governments since 1976. Prior to that time, the governments were highly representative from a territorial viewpoint; their composition reflected the distribution of electors across the country in a way that gave each region a share of cabinet posts roughly proportional to its share in the overall electoral strength of governing parties weighted by its share of the total electorate. Regression analysis of 1976-2001 data show that, on the whole, this pattern of cabinet seat distribution has not changed over time. From legislature to legislature, however, differences do exist, & the explicatory power of this model is somewhat limited when applied to the 1996-2001 term. A brand new innovation, as compared to the 1948-1976 period, consists instead of the presence of a growing number of non-MP executive members. However, one, must distinguish between nonpartisan, non-MP government members & partisan government members who are simply not members of the parliament. The former were especially frequent during the years 1992-1994; the latter after 1996. 3 Tables, 13 Figures, 54 References. Adapted from the source document.

Following a protracted period of political paralysis, in Mar 1992, Israel's parliament adopted a new & original institutional reform meant to address the political system's shortcomings -- mainly, a fragmented party system in which small parties were thought to hold excessive power & government coalitions were ineffective & costly. The new system -- adopted in 1996 & repealed in Mar 2001 -- introduced the direct election of the prime minister alongside general parliamentary elections, whose voting system remained unchanged. This article discusses the nature of the reform, its impact on Israel's political system, & the reasons that ultimately led to its early demise. It documents how certain shortcomings in the reform -- the use of a double ballot, the possibility of by-elections for the Prime Minister only, the persistence of the confidence vote, & the parliamentary power to vote early dissolution -- led to split ticket, party fragmentation, unworkable coalitions, government paralysis, & frequent early elections. A discussion of the system's performance 1996-2001 helps clarify why it failed to achieve its goals & why it was replaced with a slightly modified version of the old system in place before 1996. 1 Table, 4 Figures, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.