Country Profile:

Upcoming Elections

  • Parliamentary
    April 2013
  • Presidential
    May 2013
Italy
  • Italy
  • Italian Republic
  • Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Giorgio NAPOLITANO
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Silvio BERLUSCONI
  • 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.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by parliament to serve a 7-year term.
  • In the Senate (Senato della Repubblica), 315 members are elected through a party-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 party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* Lists are closed. 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.

Population:

  • Population: 58,126,212 (July 2009 est.)

Future elections

  • Presidential - May 2013
  • Parliamentary - April 2013

Past elections

Last Updated on 08/17/2005