Equal Access to Elective Offices: A Challenge for Italian Democracy

Maria Grazia Rodomonte

doi:10.4172/2332-0761.1000107

Abstract

One of the major innovations that have marked recent elections in Italy is the largest number of women ever recorded in the past, both in the lists submitted by the parties and, consequently, within the new Parliament. As shown in Table 1 women currently in the Chamber of Deputies are in fact 28.4% of the total number of representatives, while in the Senate 27%.

Highlights

Women’s political representation in the Italian ParliamentItaly moves in that way from the 63rd to the 34th place in the women’s representation world ranking, drawn up periodically by Ipu (Interparlamentary Union)
Previous parliamentary terms experienced a female incidence significantly lower: in the XII legislature women were about 12% of the total, in the XIII and XIV parliamentary term the women representation goes further, at about 10% for registering a small increase in the XV legislature with 109 women in the Chamber of Deputies and 45 in the Senate, respectively 17.3% and 14% of the delegates1. This is the result of the exclusive choice made by the main parties to nominate the candidates through primary elections, including an approximately equal number of women and men. This choice was certainly prompted by a new climate that, in the field of gender equality, as will be discussed later, has recently triggered the introduction of many amendments to assert a greater presence of women in many areas of Italian social life and politics
The remarks concerning the drafting of the lists certainly make clear, in the light of the electoral results obtained if in part it depends on the electoral law, for the other hand it is the result of today individual choices carried out by political parties

Summary

Introduction

Moves in that way from the 63rd to the 34th place in the women’s representation world ranking, drawn up periodically by Ipu (Interparlamentary Union). Previous parliamentary terms experienced a female incidence significantly lower: in the XII legislature women were about 12% of the total, in the XIII and XIV parliamentary term the women representation goes further, at about 10% for registering a small increase in the XV legislature with 109 women in the Chamber of Deputies and 45 in the Senate, respectively 17.3% and 14% of the delegates1 This is the result of the exclusive choice made by the main parties to nominate the candidates through primary elections, including an approximately equal number of women and men. In the past parliamentary term there have been several unsuccessful attempts to change quickly the so-called “porcellum” The issue of amending the current electoral law has obviously arisen again after the last election which, as is well-

XIII XIV XV XVI XVII

Findings

Conclusion