The Senate of the Republic, or simply the Senate, is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to the Articles 57, 58, and 59 of the Italian Constitution, the Senate has 200 elective members, of which 196 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 4 from Italian citizens living abroad. Furthermore, there is a small number of senators for life, either appointed or ex officio. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno, itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia established on 8 May 1848. Members of the Senate are styled Senator or The Honourable Senator and they meet at Palazzo Madama, Rome.
Italy has recognised same-sex civil unions since 5 June 2016, providing same-sex couples with most of the legal protections, benefits and rights of marriage. A bill to this effect was approved by the Senate on 25 February 2016 and the Chamber of Deputies on 11 May. It was signed into law by President Sergio Mattarella on 20 May, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale the next day and took effect on 5 June 2016. The law does not grant same-sex couples joint adoption rights or access to in vitro fertilisation. Before this, several regions had supported a national law on civil unions and some municipalities passed laws providing for civil unions, though the rights conferred by these civil unions varied from place to place.
Sergio Mattarella is an Italian politician, jurist, academic, and lawyer who is currently serving as the 12th president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 2023, Mattarella has been the only living Italian president.
The Associative Movement of Italians Abroad is an Italian political party representing Italians abroad. Based in Argentina and active mainly in South America, the MAIE is a centrist party.
Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa is an Italian politician who is serving as president of the Senate of the Republic since 13 October 2022. He is the first politician with a neo-fascist background to hold the position of President of the Senate, the second highest-ranking office of the Italian Republic.
Populars for Italy is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy led by Mario Mauro, minister of Defence in Letta Cabinet and, previously, long-serving MEP for Forza Italia.
Maria Elisabetta Alberti, known by her married name as Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, is an Italian lawyer and politician, serving as Minister for Institutional Reforms since 2022. She was President of the Italian Senate from 2018 to 2022. She was the first woman ever to have held this position. Casellati is a long-time member of the liberal-conservative party Forza Italia and served as Undersecretary of Health and Justice in previous governments. In 2022, she was nominated as candidate for President of Italy by the centre-right coalition.
The Independent Alternative for Italians Abroad was a party list that contested the 2006 Italian general election in the overseas division of North America and Central America. It ran four candidates for the Chamber of Deputies and two candidates for the Italian Senate. The party did not win any seats.
The 2008 Italian general election was the second in which Italian and dual citizens living outside the country could vote by postal ballot in international electoral districts. Twelve members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and six members of the Italian Senate were elected in this way.
The Overseas Constituencies consists of four electoral zones which elect Deputies and Senators to the Italian Parliament. Italy is one of the few countries to reserve seats for those citizens residing abroad. Since 2020, there are eight such seats in the Chamber of Deputies and four in the Senate of the Republic.
The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 18th legislature of the Italian Republic since 1948. The election took place concurrently with the Lombard and Lazio regional elections. No party or coalition gained an absolute majority in the parliament, even though the centre-right coalition won a plurality of seats as a coalition, and the Five Star Movement (M5S) won a plurality of seats as an individual party.
The South American Union of Italian Emigrants is an Italian political party representing Italian minorities in South America, especially Argentina and Brazil.
Roberto Fico is an Italian politician and member of the Five Star Movement. He served as the Chairman of the RAI Supervision Commission from 2013 to 2018 and President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2018 to 2022.
Carla Mazzuca Poggiolini is a professional journalist and Italian politician who served in both chambers of the Italian Parliament. She is the wife of Danilo Poggiolini.
The 2020 Italian by-elections were called to fill seats in the Parliament that became vacant after the 2018 general elections. In 2020, by-elections were held for the Chamber of Deputies the Senate of the Republic.
A constitutional referendum about the reduction of the size of the Italian Parliament was held in Italy on 20 and 21 September 2020. Initially scheduled to be held on 29 March, the referendum was postponed following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and subsequent lockdown.
Alternativa is a populist and Eurosceptic political party in Italy. It was established in February 2021 as a parliamentary sub-group of the Mixed Group named L'Alternativa c'è. Its members are former deputies of the Five Star Movement who were expelled from the party for having voted against Mario Draghi's government.
Overseas is one of the 29 constituencies represented in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian parliament. With more than 5.8 million registered voters, it is the largest constituency by population, but it currently elects only 8 deputies.
Francesca Alderisi is an Italian politician and television presenter. Since 2018, she has been a Senator from Forza Italia representing North and Central America.
The Meloni government is the 68th and current government of the Italian Republic, the first headed by Giorgia Meloni, leader of Brothers of Italy, who is also the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Italy. The government was sworn in on 22 October 2022. It was one of the fastest government formations in the history of the Italian Republic. It was variously described as a shift to the political right, as well as the first far-right-led coalition in Italy since World War II.
