Politics in Italy and France: Similarities and Differences - Essay Example

Student’s Name Professor Subject Date Politics in Italy and France Italy and France share some similarities when it comes to politics. This is basically due to their pluriform multi-party system. This party system encourages different political constituents to develop three or more political parties buying for the seats in the government. This ensures that a single party cannot establish a policy without being contested. Italian Government and Parties Italy’s politics takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic republic framework. Being a parliament system means the executive branch of the government is under the influence of the parliament. Since the parliament votes for the Ministers, they have direct influence on who will be the elected ministers. The parliament is a set of people which is concerned in the legislative branch of the government. It consists of two houses, the Chamber of Deputies which has 630 seats and the Senate of the Republic which has 315 elected members and some life senators. The Chamber of Deputies is voted directly by the People, while the Senate of the Republic is voted by the Chamber. In Italy, the chamber of ministers was voted from the Senate of the Republic. The head of the chamber of ministers is the prime minister which is the head of the government. Italy also has its president which is the head of the state. The president is also elected by the parliament. Italy’s form of government is a classic example of a parliamentary. It showcased a chain of command among the officials of the government where the direct inferior official can vote and impeach the superior official. That is, with the exemption of the President of the Republic where it is elected by popular votes. This system perfectly fits for multi-party system. There are several parties in Italy which fought at the elections in the past twelve years. The balance of power had been very evident. The officials have drastically changed over the past years where the longest term for a prime minister is five years. Major Parties such as the recent merger the Democratic Party and Forza Italia had been battling it out to gain the support of other smaller parties. In the recent years the centrist parties had been a vital for both major parties. Being on both sides of the political spectrum, the leftist and rightist parties had formed a coalition to get the support of both the centrist and the extremist. The two strongest parties in Italy were the Democratic Party and Forza Italia. These two parties had been battling to gain support from different smaller parties. The one with the larger support would win the parliament and then its leader will be Prime Minister. This is the trend in the Italy for the past twelve years. The longer they have support from smaller parties the longer the government will stay. A small party withdrawing its support in the current government could almost get the government to crumble. The Democratic Party is centre-left party. They came from leftist and centrist parties that merge into sole Democratic Party. The party has good composition of people from liberal, social, centrist, democratic, social, and Christian parties. This diversity will give them leverage in the coming elections. There are newly formed parties in Italy which brought up a new changed in face of Italian politics. The newly formed Democratic Party is the largest and the most influential party now in Italy. With the merging of big democratic parties in to one united party could dominate the political power of Italy. The Democratic Party now with their merging has 220 seats now in the Chamber of Deputies. But today there are two large party coalitions in Italy namely the Union and the House of Freedoms. The Union is centre-left coalition which was led by Romano Prodi, now headed the Democratic Party, the current prime minister. The Union coalition came from the Olive Tree coalition which represented the centre-left parties of Italy in 1996 and 2001 elections. Now with some minor centrist parties and far lefties, they hold the most seats in the Senate and the Chamber. The Olive Tree coalition led by Romano Prodi had come out in 1996 elections and it lasted until 2001. The Olive Tree then was consist of the Democratic Party of the Left, the Italian People’s Party, the Federation of the Greens, the Italian Renewal, the Italian Socialist, Democratic Union and the Communist Refoundation Party. Romano Prodi became the Prime Minister until the Communist Refoundation Party withdrew its support to the Olive Tree Coalition. The Union is now consist of the Democratic Party (the Democrats of the Left and Daisy-Democracy is Freedom), Communist Refoundation Party, the Federation of the Greens, the Party of Italian Communist, Italian Democratic Socialist, the Italian Radicals, Italy of Values, Popular-UDEUR, the Socialist and the Pensioner’s Party. This coalition had dominated the last elections in 2006. The Union being the larger coalition of the two coalitions dominates the House of Freedoms in Italy in the recent election. It is consist of several parties from the centre-left government. It includes some radical left parties which were not originally part of the Olive Tree coalition. While the House of Freedoms is the centre-right coalition which was headed by the Forza Italia led by Silvio Berlusconi. They had been the major opponent of the Union. The House of Freedoms is once called the Freedom Pole which evolved due to the formation of the Union. The Berlusconi’s Forza Italia had to counter the efforts of the Prodi’s Democratic Party (Democrats of the Left) to gain control of the legislative. These two coalitions of parties had been part of the major events in the politics in Italy. It had been a see-saw domination between this two parties forming different government in a year in the past twelve years. The House of Freedom was once the Freedom Pole and won the 1994 general elections but the government didn’t stay long because the Northern League withdrew its support. After five years of left-wing government in 1996 to 2001, the coalition had won the elections and sought a stable government. The House of Freedoms consists of the Forza Italia, the National Alliance, the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, the Northern League, Movement of Autonomy, Christian Democracy for the Autonomies, the New Italian Socialist Party, Italian Republican Army and Liberal Reformers. There are many major parties in Italy which had dominated the electoral votes throughout the elections in the past twelve years. One is the Democratic Party which was a product of a merged of Democrats of the Left, Daisy-Democracy is Freedom, Southern Democratic Party, Sardinia Project, European Republicans Movement, Democratic Republicans, Middle-of-the-Road Italy and Reformist Alliance in the 2006 general elections. The political events in Italy where political parties lost their power had been evidently due to uprising of sectoral groups that they had ignore. These groups will pull their support out and then the opposition will take over. The significantly important aspects of the Italian politics were to see that every aspect of the people’s interest and like were not been ignored. In that way, the political parties will stay in power for a longer time and they will take control of the policies they make for the country. The efforts of both major parties had been very useful for a stable politics in Italy. It had been a very good competition for Democratic Party and Forza Italia. They had kept the balance of power in Italy. They continue to go at it in coming elections in order to pursue their goals in passing favorable policies for their people. The failure to do so could mean the withdrawal of support and the party could gain control and reform the government again. The Northern League which formed for the benefit of the northern region had been very influential because of its large support. The people of the northern region had been very influential in the Italian Politics. It is because of the Northern League’s impact in the political equilibrium can be devastating if it is displeased. There times were they were the most important party to gain support. It happen that they had withdrew support from the coalition which leads to the abolishment of the government. With this influence in the major parties in Italy, they had made their way to power without being the largest party. There have been existent far right parties in the Italian state, which were based in the center and north of Italy. These are the Movimento sociale Italiano-Fiamma Tricolore (MSI-FT, Italian Social Movement-Tricolous Flame), Movimento politico occidentale (Western Political Movement), Base autonoma (Autonomous Base), Azione skinheads (Action Skinheads) and Veneto fronte skinheads (Veneto Skinhead Front). Neo-Nazi skinheads is considered to be the most violent. There was also the Fronte nazionale, and Forza Nuova (New Force). These new parties existed for different reasons. The MSI-FT, for instance, was against prostitution and drug trafficking. It also supported the Italy’s withdrawal from NATO. The other parties occurred as a result of the 1993 law against racial, religious and ethnic discrimination and also as a result of the broader social and political changes. One of these changes is the depoliticization of young people. Some of these parties, such as the Fronte nazionale, was established to oppose ‘cosmo-politics,’ ‘Zionism,’ ‘racial mixing,’ and the influence of the USA and international finance. Due to the increasing number of these parties, the MSI-FT, for instance, got 2.3 per cent of the vote for the Senate and 1.7 per cent of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies. This is enough to secure the party of one seat in the upper house. Moreover, the MSI-FT won one MEP (Member of the European Parliament), with 1.6 per cent of the vote during the European elections of 1999. French Government and Parties France is one of the largest countries in Europe. It is run by a semi-presidential representative democratic republican government. Like in Italy, the French politics is of a pluriform multi-party system. The government is consisting of the executive, the legislative and judiciary branches. The president is the head of the State and the prime minister is the head of the government. A semi-presidential type of government is much like the parliament system but it differs on the role of the president and the prime minister. In this system a prime minister is voted out by both legislative houses while the president is voted by the people. And the president and the prime minister bought exercise had similar roles. The President of the Republic and the Prime Minister works hand in hand with each other in administrative responsibilities. The French government differs from the Italian in the sense of who is the head of the executive branch. There is no clear description of what is the difference of their roles and exercised power. But France had exercise a political convention where the Prime Minister is in-charge of the domestic policies while the President is in-charge of the foreign policies. The executive power is exercise by the government. The legislative branch is divided into two houses, the Senate of the Republic and the National Assembly. The Senate is elected by local elected officials all over France including the members of National Assembly. On the other hand, the National Assembly of France is directly voted by the people. Both the left and the right wing parties in France had undergone rapid changes in the past 12 years. They had divided themselves into parties in their own categories such as the lefties, centrist, rightist, socialist, the green, conservative and others. For example, in the left wing, the reformist, revolutionaries, republicans and the radicals had formed their own parties to pursue their goals and policies that they want to be implemented for the favor of their group. On the other hand, the right wing parties had partitioned themselves into the legitimists, the orleanists, and the bonapartists which mostly want the reestablishment of the traditional values of France. In other words, political were formed to pursue policies which will benefit their group and supporters. The diversity of the political parties in France makes the politics competitive and balance. Since France is a democratic country, the democracy is always comes first so the dominancy of a large party is inevitable. The majority of the votes will always be place on a larger party. The party which dominates the local elections will dominate the legislative elections. And most probably will dominate the presidential election. With France’s election system the more influential party could easily dominate the election. Not like in Italy, French politics had not been dominated by coalitions. The party itself can dominate all other parties. Since the Socialist Party’s influence is not enough to equally compete with Union of Popular Movement. They are the majority of the parliament without any form of coalition. There quite a number of parties in France. The most number of political parties are conservatives. The most popular conservative party in France is Union of Popular Movement. The UPM has the absolute majority of both the Senate of France and the National Assembly in the past years now. They had dominated the politics of France since the time Jacques Chirac was elected as president. They had been the majority in the Both Houses for the past years. The Union of a Popular Movement was formed for the purpose of economic liberalism and the construction of Europe. It was first named the Union for the Presidential Majority. It is an organization of Jacques Chirac’s supporters. The UMP was formed by 5 different parties headed by the rally for the Republic party. It was born with the values of Guallism, Liberalism (Republicanism), Christian Democracy (Popularism) and Radicalism. The Socialist Party was left wing party that replaces the French Section of the Workers’ International. It is the sole party that got closed enough in terms of influence and power with the Union Popular Movement. They had rise into power in the past by winning the legislative elections in several occasions. The Socialist is one of the major parties in France. It has been the only one powerful enough to be called a formidable opponent of the UMP. The Union for French Democracy is third when it come to the number of senators. The party is currently headed by François Bayrou. The political was reformed to the new Democratic Party which is basically the same party but a little different in values. They had been battling it out with the National Front before it rise to its place today. They had far more influence now than the National Front for their candidate for president had finished a strong third in the last elections. The National Front is a far right nationalist party. This party is an extremist group that pursues the traditional values. As every nationalist, they want more independence from other European countries. They had place themselves in third in the past years behind the Union for a Popular Movement and the Socialist Party. France has the National Front in the far right. In the left wing there are several counter parts. One far leftist party is the Revolutionary Communist League. It is a revolutionist socialist political party which aims to revolutionize France. Another leftist party is the Left Radical Party. It is social liberal party which was has a moderate view not like other leftist. Another one is the Citizen Republican Movement. This republican party is a leftist euro-sceptic party. They had opposed European integration. The last of the leftist parties is the French Communist Party which pursues the principles of communism. It is one of the largest parties in France in terms of members. There are several green parties in France such as the Citizenship, Action, Participation for the 21st Century, The Greens, the Ecological Generation, and the Independent Ecological Movement. They had been the smaller parties which emerged in France for their similar ecological values. The Citizens, Action Participation for the 21st Century or CAP 21 is minor green political party in France. There political efforts had not been very effective. They supported a president and they run the legislative seat but still they are unfortunate. The Greens is an ecologist political party on the left. This very old party had endorsed a president in its history but failed to take the seat. It is a member of the European Green Party. Another green party in France is the Ecology Generation. Together with The Green party, they are the two oldest green parties in France. This ecological party is unlike the other green parties which are leftist. The Ecology Generation is present itself as a centre-right party which evidently made the contact with the UMP. The last green party which emerges in France is the Independent Ecological Movement. In France, the National Front (FN) is considered to be the most powerful party on the far right. It consists of fundamentalist Catholic, anti-Semitic, royalist, ex-Colonialist and Petainist. It was responsible for inciting the fear among French that the European Union will overpower the economic identity and national culture. The National Front was also responsible for claiming that the Freemasons and Jews promoted European integration. Although the front has been claiming that it existed primarily to free politics from corruption and to reinforce law and order, many believed that it was actually the opposite that the front was existing. The party’s leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, supported the establishment of a pan-European National Front. The National Front affected the party as it established alliances with different unions and far right parties. One effect it has can be seen during the May/June 1997 election when the front centered on European integration, unemployment and political corruption. Many thought that the front would not have much time to organize quickly. Thus it would show that the front was just a marginal part of the political arena. However, the party contested 570 out of the 577 seats of the national assembly. This meant that the party was entitled for the second round in 133 constituencies. The National Front has collected 3.78 million votes, which was 15 per cent of the overall vote. This made the front as the third largest party in France. Its effect can also be seen through the March 1998, which showed that the National Front has a new-found power to stir the mainstream politics. The party ended up third with 15.5 per cent of the vote nationwide. Moreover, FN got 9.7 per cent of the vote during the 1986 regional elections and 13.9 in 1992. Other far right parties include the Nouvelle resistance (NR, New Resistance), the Restauration nationale (RN, National Restoration), the Nouvelle Droite (New Right), the Groupement de recherchés et d’etudes pour la civilisation europeenne (GRECE, Research and Study Group for European Civilization), the Terre et people (Land and People), and others. Like the far right parties in Italy, these parties exist for their own purposes. Some of these parties existed because they opposed the United States influence on their country, to promote culture, or that they opposed ideas. Green Parties During the 1970s, there was a rise in the number of environmental movements and their political expression. These green parties experienced success in many OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries at the municipal and local levels. Later on, these parties won seats in the national parliaments and held ministerial portfolios. The existence of these green parties were said to be advantageous as they helped in improving the conditions of the quality of air, water and soil. It was also said that countries which have stronger representation of environmentalist parties in their governments or parliaments have lower pollution levels. This was because the Green parties considered environmental protection as very important. The rise of Green parties also coincided with the efforts of developed nations to alleviate damage to the environment. However, the role of the Green parties’ impact on environmental policy outcomes is not much understood. Perhaps this is because these ecological parties should also develop positions on issues beyond the “new politics” area to be able to join in the political process. Besides being known for environmentalism, the Green parties are known for possessing self-actualization and self-determination, a left-wing orientation, unambiguous preference for unilateral disarmament, participatory democracy with direct involvement of citizens in decision making, and redistribution of global wealth for the developing nations. The Green parties’ priority included the promotion of policies to improve the environment and sustainable development. The Green parties have an impact on governments. Their government participation, in turn, has an impact on environmental quality. Their participation is associated with the decreases in the levels of pollution. The Green parties are said to have a positive impact on policy through the salient environmental issues and forcing major parties to include “green” issues into their platforms. The Greens’ participation in the national parliamentary can also influence the major parties’ agenda towards environmental policy-making. In turn, those environmentalists can have an impact on policy when they participate in cabinet, wherein the Green party members held the post of the environmental minister. Traditionally, the left-wing parties were said to be more responsive to the various demands of the environmentalist movement. The traditional Left and the Green parties formed an alliance because the Left was quick to adopt the environmentalist agenda. Additionally, France and Italy – two of many countries where the Green parties have enough electoral strength to be represented in governments – were known to have left-wing orientation of the Green parties. In Italy and France, Green parties are included in the political pendulum and return to government due to the success of the left parties. The environmentalist movement was a part of the French political scene. These parties have been contesting municipal, national and European elections. The green parties in France include Citizenship, Action, Participation for the XXIst Century, Ecology Generation and Independent Ecological Movement. These parties have been in existence as far back as 1974. These parties were not part of the left or the right, as was declared by Antoine Waechter. He ran for president during the 1988 elections, garnering 3.8 per cent of the ballots. The following year, the Greens polled 10.6 percent during the European elections. The Green parties in France were constituted as a political party in 1984. When they found electoral success during the 1989 electoral elections, there were high hopes for a national breakthrough. As a result the parties split due to the question of an alliance with the socialists. In 1997, the Green parties entered the national government due to their electoral alliance. They, alongside communists and other left-wing groups, became the “plural majority” government and a socialist prime minister governed them. Although the Greens formed an alliance, they were not likely to win representation because the socialists rejected their demands that the electoral system be changed so that they (the Greens) can join the parliament independently. Their alliance with the socialists will be the basis for their government participation, but it will still depend upon how well the socialists will do in parliamentary and presidential elections. In Italy, the Federation of the Greens is also called the Italian green and eco-socialist party. They are generally strong in urban areas and cities, in the South and in mountain regions. Their power has risen when the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) movements arose in opposition to the construction of highways and landfills. These parties materialized from different local and regional green movements. In 1986, the federation of green emerged, and in 1989, the green rainbow party. But the two parties merged in 1991. Their entry into government in early 1990s was brought about by the collapse of the old Italian party system. A new electoral law was passed which allowed and forced small parties like the green parties to enter in collations to be able to survive. In 1994, the Green parties became part of the center-left alliance that lost the elections. An alliance of greens, socialists, Christian democrats, ex-communists and liberals, called “Olive Tree,” won the parliamentary majority in 1996. As a result the Green parties won seven seats in the Senate and 11 seats in the lower House. However, the Green parties lost their role in government when the Olive Tree lost the 2001 elections. The Greens’ impact was also seen through the enforcement of existing laws and strengthening of the environmental ministry’s functions and structures. Italy has used this strategy. Minister Ronchi, Environment Minister, has strengthened and reorganized the ten-year-old and marginal Ministry for the Environment in 1996, after the triumph of the Ulivo coalition. Moreover, Ronchi encouraged exchange of information and collaboration with the different environmentalist organizations to address environmental problems. He also intervened, through the initiatives of other ministers. In the same way, the French Green parties succeeded in transforming and expanding the Ministry of the Environment into the Ministry of Development and the Environment. This implied the expansion of jurisdiction through appointing ministry with greater powers, particularly in allotting funds for developing new planning regulations and road building programs. But now only a small party carried only one to two percent of the electorate. The Green parties became dependent to be able to join center-left electoral alliances. However, the Green parties have a chance to be a part of that alliance so long as they uphold their identity with an electoral appeal. Power of the Prime Minister A Prime Minister can be the head of government and is bestowed with the power to select his cabinet or dismiss other members of the cabinet. As the most senior minister of the cabinet in a parliamentary system of government, he can also assign positions to members within the government. Moreover, a Prime Minister chairs and decides the agenda for the cabinet meetings. In other countries, a Prime Minister has the power to control and direct policy for the government. He is also assigned to inform the Queen (in Britain) or the President of decisions. Additionally, the Prime Minister is tasked to select the members of the cabinet that he will be working with. Thus, he is considered as the head of the executive branch of government. In Italy, the legislative and executive branches are the same. It has a symbolic President. However, the real power is in the hands of the Prime Minister. Aside from all of these, the Prime Minister has patronage elsewhere. He can appoint junior ministers, judges, bishops and senior civil servants. That power enables the Prime Minister to assign these people into their respective positions as though he is sure that they will back up his policies. Power of the Prime Minister in France France, which has both a president and a prime minister, has semipresidential systems. If, for instance, the President’s party holds the majority in the national assembly, the President controls the politics. However, is power is split, the President runs the foreign policy while the Prime Minister governs the domestic policies. Moreover, the President in France does not have the veto power. On the other hand, according to the constitution, the French President has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister. He is also the one who appoints the Prime Minister. The parliament does not necessarily approve the appointment of the Prime Minister. He has appointment powers with many powerful positions. The French Prime Minister is assigned to carry out the directives of the President and to manage the civil service. Although the president has greater power, the prime minister has power as he controls the domestic legislative agenda. However, the power of the prime minister is minor compared to that of the president. This is because the President exercises significant influence despite the fact that the parliament and the Prime Minister of France manage the lawmaking of the nation. The President controls the most senior office, and outranks all politicians. But the Prime Minister countersigns the decisions made by the President. The Prime Minister is the head of ministers which controls the administrative policies of the government. The Prime Minister loses his power if the parliament loses its confidence to the head minister. It is called the vote of confidence. Thus if an allied party had withdrew his support for the prime ministers, he can be voted out by the parliament. The regional officials answer to the Prime Minister as he is the head of the government. Power of the Prime Minister in Italy Italy also has Presidential systems. Its prime minister is the head of government. According to the Italian order of precedence, the Prime Minister, who is also the President of the Council of Ministers, is the most important figure in the Italian government. As is with the French government, the President of the Republic, or the head of the state, appoints the President of the Council. The Italian Prime Minister is responsible for informing the President of the Republic the list of government ministers. He is also assigned to direct and coordinate the activity of the ministers. This power has been bestowed in Prime Ministers for a longer extent in the Italian history. Most of the prime minister’s activities focus on mediating between the different parties in the majority coalition. He has limited power of address. Meaning, he cannot just fire the ministers with whom he disagrees with. However, the President of the Council now has the power to direct the internal dynamics of the government and to make various decisions due to the rise of the new mode of politics. It is also important that the Prime Minister’s party holds the majority of government. The President of the Republic appoints the new Prime Minister from a set of Minister voted by parliament. The parliament has the power to impeach a Prime Minister from its position. That is why the prime minister is the head of the coalition which has the majority of the seats of Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Works Cited Arens, Marianne and Peter Schwarz.” Italy’s former Communist Party shifts further to the right”. 12 May 2007 Bohlen, Celestine.” Announcing New Party in Italy, Dini Jumps Into Election Fray”. 25 February 1996 Paolo Borioni,”Why a Democartic Party in Italy?”.4 June 2007 Thomas, Christine.”Democratic Party Launched: Conference marks final demise of once powerful Communist Party”. CWI Italy, Bologna Read More