Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Sergio MATTARELLA (3 February 2015)*
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Matteo RENZI
• Assembly: Italy has a bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consisting of the Senate (Senato della Repubblica) with 322 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) with 630 seats.

*Former President Giorgio NAPOLITANO resigned 14 January 2015

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by an electoral college to serve a 7-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Senate (Senato della Repubblica), 315 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms, 5 members are elected by the President and 2 members are filled ex officio*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) 630 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* Thresholds apply at the regional level, and seats are allocated regionally. The thresholds are: 20% for any pre-election coalition, 3% for any party within a coalition, and 8% for any party not in coalition. Within a coalition, seats are allocated to parties in proportion to their vote shares.

** Lists are closed. Once national thresholds are met, seats are allocated to parties on a regional basis. The thresholds are: 10% for any pre-election coalition, 2% for any party within a pre-election coalition, and 4% for any party not in coalition. The pre-election coalition winning a plurality of votes is guaranteed 340 seats. Within a coalition, seats are allocated to parties in proportion to their vote shares.