Blue Print - Italy Some Statistics about Italy 2016/2017 Demographic: - inhabitants: 60,579 mill (men 48%; women 52%) o Nationals: 55,550 mill o Non-nationals : 5,029 mill - average age: 44,9 - life expectancy: 80,6 years for men, 85 for women - fertility rate: 1,34 Education: - early school leavers. 14,7% - expenses used on education: 4% of GDP Political: - women in parliament: 31,4% - female ministers: 33,3% Economics: - GDP pr. capita: 38328 US$ - Average tax: 43,5 of GDP - Gini-coefficient: 0,325 - Support to developing countries: 0,22% of GDP - public debt: 132% of GDP Unemployment: 11,7% Other things: - emission of CO2 pro capita: 5,6 tons - HDI (Human Development Index): 0,887 (rank 26 in the world) - mobile phones: 86,9 % - internet users: 75,2 % Introduction. Italy is a relatively young country: as a kingdom it was born in 1860 and became a republic in 1946. It covers a quite large area, a peninsula stretching from north to south in the Mediterranean sea. It is made up of 21 regions divided into 107 provinces, different in climate, history, tradition, language and way of life. Also economic and social problems are often different and dissimilar the approaches to face them. Five regions – Aosta Valley, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino-South Tyrol, Sardinia and Sicily – enjoy particular forms and conditions of autonomy . Italian is the official language but French in Aosta Valley and German in South Tyrol are co-official and other 12 minority languages are protected. The Political Level Above all the diversities a strongly unifying element is our Constitution, which was approved in 1948 after the devastating experience of WW2, fascist dictatorship and civil war. The fist article of the Italian Constitution states that Italy is a democratic Republic founded on labour. Sovereignty belongs to the people and is exercised by the people in the forms and within the limits of the Constitution. Italian Democracy CounlMunicipalities, Provinces, Regions The elections of citizens’ representatives and administrators is the most significant aspects of a democracy . In Italy four levels of political elections can be distinguished: the Comune (municipality), the Province, Regional and National Parliament . The comune provides many of the basic civil functions: registry of births and deaths, registry of deeds and contracting for local roads and public works. It is headed by a sindaco (mayor) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale (communal council), and an executive body, the giunta comunale (communal committee), chaired directly by the mayor. Many comuni also have a municipal police, which is responsible for public order duties. A province is composed of many comuni. Several provinces together form a region; the region of is the sole exception because it is not subdivided into provinces, and provincial functions are exercised by the region. The three main functions devolved to provinces are: local planning and zoning; provision of local police and fire services; transportation regulation (car registration, maintenance of local roads, etc.). According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President (or Commissioner) assisted by a legislative body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body, the Provincial Executive. President (Commissioner) and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province. This reform hasn’t been completely implemented yet. In each province, there is also a Prefect who is a representative of the central government. Every Italian region has a statute that serves as a regional constitution, determining the form of government and the fundamental principles of the organization and the functioning of the region, as prescribed by the Constitution of Italy. As said before, fifteen regions have ordinary statutes and five have special statutes, granting them extended autonomy. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences and protect linguistic minorities. Moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War. The Italian Parliament consists of the Chamber of Deputies which is elected by direct and universal suffrage, by voters who are eirhteen years of age, and the Senate of the Republic is elected by universal and direct suffrage by voters who are twenty-five years of age. The election of the National Parliament is f the most relevant expression of popular sovereignty. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic are equal in their functions and powers. For this reason, the Italian Parliament is said to be "bicameral". Parliament approves legislation, steers and monitors the activities of the Government, enquires into matters of public interest, and grants and revokes confidence in the Government. Sitting in joint session, and with the attendance also of regional delegates, Parliament elects the President of the Republic. The last general election of the Italian Parliament took place in February 2013 with the following result : Senate Chamber of Deputies The Senate is composed of 315 elected The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 630 senators (half of the Deputies) elected members + 5 lifetime senators + former Presidents of the Italian Republic ( Partito Democratico: 45% (center-left) Partito Democratico: 31% (center-left) Movimento Democratico e Progressista: 7% (left) Movimento Democratico e Progressista: 5% (left) 5 Stelle : 14% (populist movement) Forza Italia: 13% (center -right) Forza Italia: 9% (center-right) 5 Stelle : 11% (populist movement) Scelta Civica: 5% (center) Nuovo Centro-destra: 9% (center-right) with Civici with Alternativa Popolare Sinistra Ecologia Libertà: 3% (left) Scelta Civica and others: 4% (center) with Sinistra Italiana Lega Nord: 3% (right) Nuovo Centro-Destra : 3 % (center-right) with Alternativa Popolare Sinistra Ecologia Libertà: 2% (left) with Sinistra Italiana Lega Nord: 3% (right) Minor parties (Mixed groups) 21% Minor parties (Mixed groups) 11% The following graphic tries to classify the different political position of the main parties in our parliament Today the government, resulting from a center-left mixed coalition with 13 ministers) is led by PD member Paolo Gentiloni ( the third Prime Minister, or Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri since 2103). As it has happened in other countries citizens have the impression that the members of the government and the members of parliament are quite distant from the electors and ignore their needs, problems and expectations. The frequent changes of Italian political scenery, the merging and splitting of political parties, with Members of Parliament shifting from a party to another, – “They change their blouse “ Italian journalists say - increase citizens’ disaffection for political participation. An exception can be considered the most eminent and representative political persons in Italy : The President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, highly estimated jurist, elected in 2015, whose brother Piersanti, President of the Regional Government of Sicily, was killed by mafia. The President of the Senate of the Republic Pietro Grasso, a The President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini , strong judge who has fought against corruption, mafia d fender of human rights and other forms of organized crime.. The assemblies and the roles of the two branches of Parliament are often identified with their seats in Rome: Palazzo Madama for the Senate of the Republic and Palazzo Montecitorio for The Chamber of Deputies. Palazzo Chigi is the seat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the President of the Italian Republic lives in a Palace on Quirinal Hill, defined by Mr Ciampi, former Italian President, as “Italians’Home”. Palazzo Madama, seat of the Senate of Italian Republic (XV century) Palazzo Montecitorio , seat of the Chamber of Deputies (XVII century) Quirinale Palace, where the President of Italian Republic resides (XVI century) Economic Level Article 41 of Italian Constitution Private-sector economic initiative is freely exercised. It cannot be conducted in conflict with social usefulness or in such a manner that could damage safety, liberty and human dignity. The law shall provide for appropriate programmes and controls so that public and private-sector economic activity may be oriented and co-ordinated for social purposes. Italy is an example of mixed economy. This type of economy combines elements of both free market and planned economy: private companies are free to compete for most goods and services, but the State provides other services such as public transport, educational and health care. The State also provides the legal instrument to control that “public and private economic activity is given direction and coordinated to social objectives”. In the Italian economy, the service sector accounts for almost three-quarters of the GDP, industry 23.6 per cent and agriculture 2.2 per cent, with the business world being made up of small and medium-sized enterprises and only a few large industrial groups. After the years of the economic crunch, the Italian economic cycle showed a mild improvement in 2015: in particular, Italy's GDP marked some growth (+0.8 per cent), with a contribution by household consumptions and available income. Also investments showed a positive sign in spite of the weakness of the general context. Improved trade conditions and an increase in domestic demand fostered an increase in imports (+6 per cent), while exports