Why does italy have a president and a prime minister

Suffrage: Universal over Per capita income est. GDP growth est. Natural resources: Fish, natural gas. Agriculture: Products --wheat, rice, grapes, olives, citrus fruits. Industry: Types --automobiles, machinery, chemicals, textiles, shoes. Italy is largely homogeneous linguistically and religiously but is diverse culturally, economically, and politically.

Minority groups are small, the largest being the German-speaking people of Bolzano Province and the Slovenes around Trieste. Other groups comprise small communities of Albanian, Greek, Ladino, and French origin. Greeks settled in the southern tip of the Italian Peninsula in the eighth and seventh centuries B. The peninsula subsequently was unified under the Roman Republic. The neighboring islands also came under Roman control by the third century B. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west in the fifth century A.

Italy became an oft-changing succession of small states, principalities, and kingdoms which fought among themselves and were subject to ambitions of foreign powers. Popes of Rome ruled central Italy; rivalries between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors, who claimed Italy as their domain, often made the peninsula a battleground.

The commercial prosperity of northern and central Italian cities, beginning in the 11th century, and the influence of the Renaissance mitigated somewhat the effects of these medieval political rivalries. Although Italy declined after the 16th century, the Renaissance had strengthened the idea of a single Italian nationality.

By the early 19th century, a nationalist movement developed and led to the reunification of Italy--except for Rome--in the s. Rome was incorporated in From until , Italy was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament elected under limited suffrage. Under the postwar settlement, Italy received some former Austrian territory along the northeast frontier. In , Benito Mussolini came to power and, over the next few years, eliminated political parties, curtailed personal liberties, and installed a fascist dictatorship termed the Corporate State.

The king, with little or no effective power, remained titular head of state. Italy allied with Germany and declared war on the United Kingdom and France in The Badoglio government declared war on Germany, which quickly occupied most of the country and freed Mussolini, who led a brief-lived regime in the north.

An anti-fascist popular resistance movement grew during the last 2 years of the war, harassing German forces before they were driven out in April The monarchy was ended by a plebiscite, and a constituent assembly was elected to draw up plans for the republic. Under the peace treaty, minor adjustments were made in Italy's frontier with France. The eastern border area was transferred to Yugoslavia, and the area around the city of Trieste was designated a free territory.

In , the free territory, which had remained under the administration of U. This arrangement was made permanent by the Italian-Yugoslav Treaty of Osimo, ratified in currently being discussed by Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. Under the peace treaty, Italy also gave up its overseas territories and certain Mediterranean islands. The Roman Catholic Church's status in Italy has been determined, since its temporal powers ended in , by a series of accords with the Italian Government.

Under the Lateran Pacts of , which were confirmed by the present constitution, the state of Vatican City is recognized by Italy as an independent, sovereign entity.

While preserving that recognition, in , Italy and the Vatican updated several provisions of the accords. Included was the end of Roman Catholicism as Italy's formal state religion. Europe's Renaissance period began in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Literary achievements--such as the poetry of Petrarch, Tasso, and Ariosto and the prose of Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Castiglione--exerted a tremendous and lasting influence on the subsequent development of Western civilization, as did the painting, sculpture, and architecture contributed by giants such as da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, and Michelangelo.

The musical influence of Italian composers Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Vivaldi proved epochal; in the 19th century, Italian romantic opera flourished under composers Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini. Contemporary Italian artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers contribute significantly to Western culture.

Italy has been a democratic republic since June 2, , when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum. The constitution was promulgated on January 1, The Italian state is highly centralized.

The prefect of each of the provinces is appointed by and answerable to the central government. In addition to the provinces, the constitution provides for 20 regions with limited governing powers.

The other 15 regions were established in and vote for regional "councils. The constitution established a bicameral Parliament Chamber of Deputies and Senate , a separate judiciary, and an executive branch composed of a Council of Ministers cabinet which is headed by the president of the council prime minister.

The president of the republic is elected for 7 years by the Parliament sitting jointly with a small number of regional delegates. The president nominates the prime minister, who chooses the other ministers. The Council of Ministers--in practice composed mostly of members of Parliament--must retain the confidence of both houses.

The houses of Parliament are popularly and directly elected by a mixed majoritarian and proportional representation system. The Chamber of Deputies has members. In addition to elected members, the Senate includes former presidents and several other persons appointed for life according to special constitutional provisions. Both houses are elected for a maximum of 5 years, but either may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term.

Legislative bills may originate in either house and must be passed by a majority in both. The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and subsequent statutes. There is only partial judicial review of legislation in the American sense. Corporate default probability is appreciable.

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However, at this particular moment — when there is enthusiasm as Joe Biden enters office in relaunching trans-Atlantic relations and multilateralism — Italy matters because of its chairmanship of the G summit and its co-chairmanship of the COP26 on climate. Moreover, given the importance of its security ties with the U. In this regard, a high-profile figure like Mario Draghi — who has top-level experience in European institutions — may take potentially stronger stances in international and European arenas.

Under his leadership, Italy may acquire more political leverage in the EU, challenging the Franco-German leadership in Europe and in its relations with the United States. Order from Chaos. A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era. Read all the Order from Chaos content ». Related Books. Saving Europe By Carlo Bastasin. Order from Chaos A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era.