Acceso usuarios
Giorgio Sobrino
Relations between Parliament and Cabinet -with their different profiles- have been subject to considerable attention by constitutional doctrine in Italy in recent years. The main reason for this "privileged" attention lies, most likely, in the link existing between Parliament-Cabinet relations on one hand and the theme of the form of government on the other. In 1993, a referendum abrogated the proportional electoral law which had regulated the elections were held until then in Italy, and (according to the phrase coined by an Authoritative study) marked the beginning of a "constitutional revolution", and of the so-called "Second Republic". In fact, the reform of the electoral system -despite this is only the method of transforming the votes expressed by electors in the number of seats in the Parliament- has been concepted as the beginning of a changement of the Italian parliamentary form of government and of the interpretation of the relative constitutional rules. For this reason, since 1993 (and even more after 2005, when an ulterior reform of the electoral system has been launched by the then right-wing majority) Italian constitutionalist doctrine -moving from the analysis of the reform of the electoral system and of relations between Parliament and Cabinet, and with reference to them- has been asking repeatedly if the form of government has really changed from the "compromising" and multipartite parliamentarism of the so-called "First Republic" to "majoritarian" parliamentarism, typical of other constitutions. These questions are still unanswered today, in the current situation of "constitutional uncertainty" following the experience of the Cabinet led by Professor Monti and the general elections of 24th and 25th February. In this context, the article aims to list the essential points -and problems- of the above doctrinal reflection, with the main interpretative orientations that have emerged. After the introduction (§ 1) and the description of the different methodological approaches to the study of the form of government and the Parliament-Cabinet relations by constitutionalist doctrine in Italy (§ 2), the article analyses four different profiles of Parliament-Cabinet relations that have been studied: the relationship of trust between Parliament and Cabinet (§3.a); the relationship in the formation of legislation (§ 3.b); the relationship within the scope of control over the Cabinet and the Government operations (with reference to the inspective and control functions of Parliament: § 3.c); the party system and the relationship between the parties and the Cabinets (§ 3.d).
