Weeks 8 & 9

Hello Everyone. As I finish up my final bit of research into the Italian government, I’m excited to share some of my findings and analysis with you all. To start, I would like to share a bit about my new and better understanding of the Italian government and politics to contextualize the information I gained from my interviews.

The Italian government structure generally mirrors the US one but with some key differences. The federal government is split into three main sections, the executive, legislative, and judicial, all with close enough functions. The nation of Italy is led by the president of Italy, currently Sergio Matarella, whose parts are to appoint the prime minister and federal judges in conjunction with the legislative branch. The president is also responsible for reviewing bills before they are presented to the legislature, and can ask that any approved bill is reviewed again based on any concerns that they have (though only once per bill). In addition, the president is responsible for commanding the military and receiving foreign diplomats.

The Judicial Branch has essentially the same responsibilities and structure as the US government with one exception. At the highest level, the branch is split into two separate courts, the Constitutional Court determines the constitutionality of laws, and the Court of Cassation reviews the most important and crucial appeals that occur from the rulings of the lower courts.

The Prime Minister, Georgi Meloni, is officially in charge of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, the two branches of the legislative branch. More generally, the Prime Minister is considered the head of the Italian government, and she is the person with the most influence in the executive branch despite not being directly voted for by the populace. After the fall of the last Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, for corruption, a special election was held, and the leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party was chosen. This lack of control, along with the rapid changes in government leadership and rampant corruption have brought Italian people’s confidence in their government to an all-time low.

The main complaint that I heard from business owners, and a concern acknowledged by even two of the three mayors I’ve heard from so far, is the fact that the government, from local to federal bureaucracy, is impacted by favors and influence. This is called Clientelism, where officials and politicians exchange favors for money and political clout. This isn’t necessarily a solely selfish system, as the laws can be a large hindrance to local towns. The most glaringly obvious example that I found of the uneven enforcement of laws is surrounding the creation of hotels on the Amalfi coast. To maintain the current ratio of tourists to natives in these areas, the law states that there can only be one hotel in a town for every five hundred permanent residents. In the town of Scala, there are 3 hotels for the 1,500 residents of the town. In Revello, just on the other side of a valley, there are 9 hotels advertised immediately when you enter the town, despite having only 2,500 people. The Superintendenzia(Superintendent), the person who reviews and approves new building construction or major restorations, of the area allowed for these hotels to be built despite not personally benefiting. The law, while important for keeping the cultural integrity and beauty of the area, hampers the economy of the area far too much to be followed to the letter, but the irritation from residents arises from the fact that the interpretation of the law isn’t evenly applied. For instance, Palazzo Prisinzano, the location where I stayed for my time in Italy, can’t be designated as a hotel because of this law, unless they want to ask a favor from the Superintendent for a favor later on. This lopsided enforcement is why just about everyone I have talked to considers the government uncaring towards the average person in Italy.

These systems of clientelism are prevalent from the top to the bottom of the Italian government. It stems from the foundation of the current form of their nation post-Mussolini.

While there is a decent amount more regarding this topic and how it ties into Italian economics, for now, I will leave it here. Thank you all for your continued interest in my project, and I will check back in with everyone next week.