3. Parliament: Democratization of Representative Institutions

This chapter will discuss the changing role of Parliament in the Italian political system and how it has been transformed during the First and Second Republics in terms of the centrality of Parliament in the passage of legislation. Attention will be placed on the role of the floor of Parliament as well as the role played by standing committees. The Italian Constitution has allocated a unique role to standing committees in the passage of legislation: it can do so without requiring a final vote on the floor of the two chambers. The chapter also discusses the role of charismatic leaders in diverting attention from the legislative process to the attractive power of the individual leader in the management of policy making above and beyond the role of Parliament and what in the last analysis is produced by government. What has become important is more the announcement of what government wants to do rather than what it is able to do. Thus, Parliament has become more the sounding board for governmental announcements rather than the process through which governmental proposals are transformed into legislation. Finally, the chapter will look at what Parliament has done in the passage of legislative proposals and analyse who in fact is elected to Parliament in terms of age, gender, educational and professional qualifications during the most recent legislatures.