The Savoy Monarchy and the Parliamentary System: From the Kingdom of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Italy

Abstract

The topic of this paper concerns the role played by the Savoy monarchy in the Italian political and parliamentary system in the nineteenth century. This role is undoubtedly complex owing to the powers assigned to the institution of the Crown and its representation in the Albertine Statute, the charter granted by Charles Albert in 1848. With the evolution of the Sardinian political system and the interaction between the monarchy and the liberal governing class, the constitutional procedure started through which the prime minister was to obtain the Chambers’ approval in order to be appointed head of the government. In fact, in relations between the monarchy and the liberal political class, the general concept was that in a strong political system able to propose prime ministers with a certain degree of power and charisma, the monarchy’s role was compressed; while, should the political system be in crisis and unable to produce an adequate prime minister, the Crown’s power of intervention regained importance in indicating the head of government. This paper analyses this interaction from the French Revolution to the end of the nineteenth century. In this scenario the relations between the Crown and the figures of prime minister are very important for understanding the evolution of the parliamentary system in Italy.