At a Glance:

Government Portal [Italian]

Year became a federation: N/A

Current constitution in force since: 1946

Constituent units [Italian]: 15 regions plus 5 autonomous regions

Head of State: President

Head of Government: Prime Minister [Italian]

Legislature:
Upper House: Senate [Italian]

Lower House: Chamber of Deputies

 

Italy
Expert explains Italy’s long road to federalism Professor Vincenzo Antonelli of Italy, centre, speaks to a Forum gathering on Italy’s increasing federalization. To his left is Felix Knuepling, the Forum’s director of Europe.
Professor Vincenzo Antonelli of Italy, centre, speaks to a Forum gathering on Italy’s increasing federalization. To his left is Felix Knuepling, the Forum’s director of Europe.
Italy is facing many challenges on its way to becoming increasingly federal, according to Italian federalism expert Vincenzo Antonelli, who spoke at a recent lunchtime seminar at the Forum of Federations’ Ottawa headquarters. Prof. Antonelli, an assistant professor of European administrative   More Information

ItalyOur work in Italy

For many years, the Forum has been working with Italian experts and practitioners of federalism. In 2010 the Forum organized an international conference on federalism in Rome.

Federalism in Italy:

In October 2008, the Italian cabinet gave the green light to the fiscal federalism bill which allows Italy’s regions to collect and spend their own tax revenue. The bill also granted greater autonomy to city and provincial governments.

Italy’s unification into a single nation took place in 1861 when the regional states of the Italian peninsula, plus Sardinia and Sicily, came together as a centralized constitutional monarchy under King Victor Emmanuel II.

An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union. It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999.

Important steps toward federalism were taken in 2001 when power was given to Italy’s 20 regions to deliver services in health, education and welfare.