PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF ITALY

In Italy, the 'President of the Council of Ministers' (Italian: ''Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri'') is the country's 'prime minister' or head of government. According to the formal Italian order of precedence, the position of President of the Council of Ministers is ceremonially the fourth-most-important Italian state office; however, in reality, the President of the Council of Ministers is the most powerful and thus truly most important person in the Italian government. This situation mirrors the position of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (who, as of 2007, is approximately 15th in the Order of Precedence) and indeed most other Prime Ministers.
The Presidency of the Council is a constitutional office, established by the Italian Constitution by articles , , , , and . The President of the Council is appointed by the President of the Republic, the head of state. The current prime minister of Italy is Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission, and leader of the center-left coalition, The Union.

Contents

Official title

Functions

See also

References

External links

Official title

The title of Italy's head of government is referred to in Italian as the ''Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri''. Literally translated this means "President of the Council of Ministers". However because ''prime minister'' is the more usual title for the head of the government in English speaking nations he is often referred to by English speakers as the 'prime minister of Italy'. However the Italian for prime minister is ''primo ministro''.
The French/English word "Premier" is becoming more heavily used in recent times, both by the press and on informal occasions, though it is not an official style for the head of government.

Functions

Besides those functions granted him as a member of the government, the prime minister indicates to the President of the Republic the list of government ministers, and countersigns all acts having the force of law that have been signed by the President of the Republic.
Article 95 of the Italian constitution specifies that "the President of the Council of Ministers directs and coordinates the activity of the ministers"; this power has been used to a quite variable extent in the history of the Italian state, as it is strongly influenced by the strength of the individual ministers and thus by the parties they represent.
Often the prime minister's activity consists more in mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. His power of address, moreover, is limited, in that, at least formally, he does not have the authority to fire those ministers with whom he finds himself in disagreement. The practice of ''rimpasto'', or the rarer "individual vote of no confidence" on the part of Parliament, may be considered surrogates for this formally absent power.
The rise of a new mode of politics, which according to some is ever more linked to the mediating skills of politicians, and the largely majoritarian electoral laws, have, in practice, given the President of the Council a greater power to make decisions and to direct the internal dynamics of the government, which represents a notable novelty for the Italian political system.

See also

★ List of prime ministers of Italy

★ List of Presidents of the Italian Republic

★ Politics of Italy

★ History of Italy

★ Italian Minister of the Interior

★ Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs

★ Italian Minister of Defense

★ Italian Minister of Justice

★ Italian Minister of Public Instruction

★ Lists of incumbents

References

★ This article was translated from the equivalent article in Italian Wikipedia, retrieved 16 April 2006.

External links

★ website of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister of Italy)

★ List of Italian Prime Ministers, with information on length of term and party membership