Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

For other uses, see Chamber of Deputies.

Chamber of Deputies Camera dei Deputati
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of Italy
Leadership
President of the Chamber	Laura Boldrini, Left Ecology Freedom Since 16 March 2013
Structure
Seats	630
Political groups	Government (453)      PD 297      PdL 98      SC 39      UDC 8      CD 6      SVP 5 Opposition Parties      M5S 109      SEL 37      LN 18      FdI 9      MAIE 2      USEI 1      SA 1
Elections
Voting system	Party-list proportional representation
Last election	24–25 February 2013
Meeting place
Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome
Website
http://english.camera.it/

The Chamber of Deputies (Italian: Camera dei Deputati) is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 12 from Italian citizens living abroad. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio.

The Seat

The Palazzo Montecitorio.

The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is the Palazzo Montecitorio, where it has met since 1871, shortly after the capital of the Kingdom of Italy was moved to Rome.

Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been the Palazzo Carignano in Turin (1861–1865) and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (1865–1871). Under the fascist regime, from 1939 to 1943, the Chamber of Deputies was abolished and replaced by the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations.

The Electoral System

Current System

The election of members to the Chamber of Deputies is by voluntary, universal, direct suffrage by all citizens of age on election day. Terms last for a total of five years, unless an early dissolution of the Chamber is called by the President of the Republic (e.g. as a result of parliamentary deadlock), at which point a snap election is held. Unlike the Senate, which requires members to be 40 years of age, members of the Chamber of Deputies may be elected at 25.

Under current law, members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected through a party-list proportional system. They are eligible for the allocation of seats based on three criteria: first, they are eligible for seats if the coalition to which their party belongs has reached a minimum of 10% of total valid votes. Within the coalition, the party must also have 2% of total, valid votes to garner seats. Beside these two criteria, it is also possible to participate in the allocation of seats if a party does not belong to a coalition but still receives 4% of total, valid votes.

Article 61 of the Italian Constitution maintains that elections for the Chamber of Deputies must take place within 70 days of the dissolution of house, and that representatives must convene within 20 days of those elections.

Normal Operation of the Assembly

The Chamber is composed of all members meeting in session at the Montecitorio. The assembly also has the right to attend meetings of the Government and its ministers. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session. Conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires.

The term of office of the House (as well as the Senate) is five years, but can be extended in two cases:

• The "prorogatio", as provided by art. 61.2 of the Constitution, states that representatives whose term has expired shall continue to exercise their functions until the first meeting of the new Chamber.
• An extension of the term, provided for by art. 60.2, can be enacted only in case of war.

Membership

The box below summarizes the distribution of seats in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, following the latest political elections on 24–25 February 2013:

Coalition		Party		Seats	Seats (%)	Popular Vote (%)
	Pier Luigi Bersani: Italy. Common Good		Democratic Party (PD)	297	47.1	25.4
			Left Ecology Freedom (SEL)	37	5.9	3.2
			Democratic Centre (CD)	6	0.95	0.49
			South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	5	0.79	0.49
			Total	345	54.8	29.5
	Silvio Berlusconi: Center-right coalition		The People of Freedom (PdL)	98	15.6	21.56
			Lega Nord (LN)	18	2.86	4.08
			Brothers of Italy (FdI)	9	1.43	1.95
			Total	125	19.84	29.1
	Beppe Grillo: Five Star Movement (M5S)			109	17.3	25.5
	Mario Monti: With Monti for Italy		Civic Choice (SC)	37
			Union of the Centre (UDC)	8	1.27	1.78
			With Monti for Italy (SC abroad)
			Total	47	7.46	10.56
	Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE)			2
	Unione Sudamericana Emigrati Italiani (USEI)			1
	Aosta Valley List (VdA)		Edelweiss Aosta Valley (SA)	1
Total				630	100	100

Notes

Popular vote (C)
Italy. Common Good			29.5%
Centre-right coalition			29.1%
5 Star Movement			25.5%
With Monti for Italy			10.5%
Others			5.4%

Distribution of the 630 parliamentary seats (C)
Italy. Common Good			54.8%
Centre-right coalition			19.8%
5 Star Movement			17.3%
With Monti for Italy			7.5%
Others			0.6%

As illustrated by the bars above, the Bersani-led coalition won the plurality in the nationwide election with a 0.4% lead over the nearest coalition, and thus - as defined by the Italian election law - was granted a majority bonus equal to an automatic 55% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Members (1980s–present)

• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 1983–1987
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 1987–1992
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 1992–1994
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 1994–1996
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 1996–2001
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 2001–2006
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 2006–2008
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, 2008–2013
• List of members of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy (current)

See also

• Bicameralism
• Chamber of Deputies
• Italian Parliament
• Italian Senate
• Camera dei Deputati (TV channel)

External links

• Italian Chamber of Deputies

References

• 

  Obelisk of Montecitorio. In the background is the Italian Chamber of Deputies

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  Back side of Palazzo Montecitorio designed by architect Ernesto Basile.

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  Front side of Palazzo Montecitorio.

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  Another photo of the main entrance of Montecitorio with the Montecitorio column.