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To what extent is the structure of the Italian legislative system the cause of its slow legislative process?

Antonino, Leonardo David
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Abstract
This thesis delves into the Italian legislative system and whether its constitutional framework has an impact on its legislative process. This is done by taking a comparative approach and focusing on the institution of Italy and the case studies of Switzerland, Germany, and France. Scholarly criticism of the Italian system is analyzed. Then, through comparison and contrast, the degree to which the various elements of the Italian system affect the legislative process is determined. The research concluded that certain aspects of the Italian constitutional framework do negatively affect the legislative process. The factors involved are many. On one hand, because of perfect bicameralism, a bill must be approved by both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Thus resulting in the two chambers reviewing and revising the same measure several times, significantly slowing the legislative process. Similarly, the constitutional court's role in the legislative process and judicial review were also found to have a negative impact by adding steps to the legislative process. Furthermore, other factors such as regional autonomy, committees, overload of bills, and rigid constitution were found to have an effect. However, because of the close link between legislative and executive branch, the most determinant factor was found to be the weak nature of the executive. A weak executive, as a result of governments falling and reelections, was found to create instability in the legislative branch through changes in legislative agenda and an overall lack of continuity affecting the functioning of the legislative process. However, whereas most scholars found fault with the electoral system for this, a comparative analysis suggested that other factors were involved. On the one hand, there is the constitutional framework of the executive branch itself. On the other hand, potentially also other non-constitutional factors.
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Thesis (B.A. in Political Science)--John Cabot University, Fall 2023.
Date
2023
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Politics and government, Public administration
Citation
Antonino, Leonardo David. "To what extent is the structure of the Italian legislative system the cause of its slow legislative process?". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2023
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