6. The Electoral System and the Search for Political Advantage

The Italian electoral system has changed over time in order to accommodate different political exigencies. In the elections for the 1946 Constituent Assembly and all parliamentary elections between 1948 and 1992, the electoral system focused on the attempt to incorporate as many of the existing political movements as possible—i.e., to bring them into Parliament and prevent their exclusion from the political process and the potential radicalization of their political objectives. For the Chamber of Deputies the minimum age was set at 18 years while for the Senate it was 25. In the period 1994–2016 alternative electoral rules were adopted that served the aim of the ruling political parties. These new electoral norms ranged from single member districts to “corrected” proportional representation systems with minimum requirements for parliamentary representation and blocked lists for multi-member electoral districts. This chapter will discuss the nexus between the electoral system and the Constitution regulating the political process, the significance of the level of voter turnout, and what are the objectives and nature of political campaigning.