The Italian political system

The Italian political system in 1896 Following unification liberal Italy was a constitutional monarchy. The Italian constitution was the Statuto of The parliamentary system was modelled on that of Britain – Senate (lifetime members appointed by the King) – Chamber of Deputies (deputies elected every 5 years) The King, as head of state, was responsible for appointing the Senate, Prime Minister and other Ministers. King Humbert I

The Statuto Granted in Piedmont, Strict qualifications based upon property and literacy, which limited the electorate to approximately 7% of the population in the 1880s. The Statuto left the King with considerable powers. – Supreme Head of State – Control of Foreign and Military Policy

Parliamentary Politics The Prime Minister needed the support of the Chamber of Deputies in order to govern. This was made difficult by the fact that there were no political parties. Parliament was dominated by liberal politicians, representing the interests of the wealthy middle class electorate. They were likely to lose their seats if they could not secure favours from Ministers. Equally, Ministers had no firm basis of party loyalty and were likely to lose office if they did not dispense favours to sufficient deputies.

Trasformismo In the absence of political parties deputies created factions centred around prominent politicians. Factions then joined together to create coalition governments, dividing ministerial posts between them. This was the politics of Trasformismo. Coalitions were usually maintained by bribery and were easily broken if an aggrieved politician withdrew his support. Between Italy had 29 different Prime Ministers. The system did little to solve Italy’s socio-economic issues – politics was more about power than policies.

Giovanni Giolitti Giolitti was Prime Minister five times between In 1903 Giolitti tried to appeal to moderate socialists and Catholics in a bid to strengthen the political system and perfect the politics of Trasformismo. Giolitti’s government of was the most stable and successful for a number of years. – Social reforms e.g. limited working hours – Laws for agricultural improvement. – Improved literacy rates in the North. However serious problems still remained – Problems in the South – Lack of industrialisation – Inefficiency in agriculture

Electoral reform In 1912, in an effort to broaden the basis of politics, Giolitti’s government extended the franchise to all adult men over the age of 30. The electorate increased from under three million to nearly eight and a half million. The new electorate, 70% of whom were illiterate, was not as easy to bribe or manipulate. The 1913 elections saw an increase in the number of socialist and Catholic deputies – the politics of trasformismo was under threat in a new age of mass politics. Giolitti found it increasingly difficult to appeal to both and in March 1914 his parliamentary coalition broke up and Giolitti resigned.