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The Italian Parliament (1928-1939) was the parliament of Italy as it existed following the constitutional reforms enacted after the Italian general election, 1924. It was, in turn, substantially restructured in 1939. This early Fascist-era legislature was a continuation of the bicameral parliament that had existed prior to 1928, though the character, structure and responsibilities of each house (the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies) were altered to various degrees.
Chamber of Deputies[edit]
History[edit]
The Chamber of Deputies was reorganized after the Fascist revolution according to the Law on Political Representation, enacted on May 17, 1928. Under the new method of election, members were not technically deputies as they were not delegates from distinct geographic constituencies or political parties but, theoretically, representatives of the whole of the nation. Benito Mussolini acknowledged this as much by remarking that "even the label Chamber of Deputies has becoming something of an anachronism. It is an institution we inherited from the past and that is foreign to our mentality and to our fascist passions".[1][2]
On December 14, 1938, the Chamber of Deputies enacted a further constitutional reform abolishing itself in favor of a new body, the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations. That amendment also contained a provision that, in the event of war, all Italian legislators would be drafted into "front-line units ... regardless of age or physical condition". It was given royal assent and the new chamber convened the following spring.[3]
Election[edit]
The Chamber of Deputies was composed of 400 members. The twelve "syndical confederations" (organizations representing trade unions and company owners grouped together by economic sector such as agriculture, banking, and so forth) were responsible for nominating a total of 800 candidates. To this list were added a further 200 candidates nominated by "public bodies" which included the Italian Olympic Committee, the Dante Alighieri Society, the Italian Academies of Arts and Sciences, and others. From the resulting list of 1,000 candidates, the Grand Council of Fascism would select 400 who would, thereafter, be formally appointed by the King of Italy.[2]
The 400 candidates appointed by the King to the chamber would, before convening, be subject to popular approval as a single slate through a national retention election; a majority of votes against the slate would prompt the chamber's dissolution and a competitive election to be held, however, during its existence under the 1928 statute, neither of the two proposed slates were rejected.[2]
The term of the chamber was five years. Qualifications for voters were Italian citizenship and attainment of the age of 18 years (lowering the voting age to 18 was one of the original political demands of the Fasci di Combattimento).[2][1]
Profile[edit]
As of 1934, a plurality of deputies were lawyers by profession (99 of the 400 members of the chamber), with engineers, journalists, and university professors representing the second, third, and fourth largest vocational backgrounds among deputies.[2]
Senate[edit]
The role and composition of the Senate was essentially unchanged after the Fascist revolution. Senators were appointed for life by the King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, though a small number of persons (adult princes of the royal family, for instance), were automatically members of the Senate. The Senate had no limit on its size and, as of 1935, it had 455 members.[2]
In practice, the powers of the Senate were severely limited and it functioned primarily as an honorary body to which elder statesmen and other prominent persons would be appointed.[2] Nonetheless, the Senate endured throughout the Fascist period as its "abolition would have meant an unacceptable encroachment on the King's prerogative".[4] Julius Evola subsequently criticized the lack of any substantial reform in the Senate by decrying it as an "inefficient, decorative superstructure" that "remained without a real function".[5]
Profile[edit]
After Mussolini's appointment as prime minister of Italy, most new nominees to the Senate were members of the National Fascist Party (PNF). By the early 1930s, a majority of senators were PNF members, though several dozen non-Fascist and anti-Fascist senators continued to hold office.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Stampino, Maria (2000). A Primer of Italian Fascism. University of Nebraska Press. p. xx. ISBN 0803292686.
- ^ a b c d e f g Schneider, Herbert (1936). The Fascist Government of Italy. New York: D. Van Nostrand. pp. 50–57.
- ^ Steiner, H. Arthur (June 1938). "Fascist Italy's New Legislative System". American Political Science Review. 33 (3): 456–465.
- ^ Finaldi, Giuseppe (2014). Mussolini and Italian Fascism. Routledge. ISBN 1317866118.
- ^ Evola, Julius. Fascism Viewed from the Right. Arktos. pp. 75–76. ISBN 1907166920.
- ^ Blamires, Cyprian (2006). World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 229. ISBN 1576079406.