The aim of this article is to show how the reforms adopted by Italy in the 1990s resulted from decades of experience during the country’s Republican period (1946-2005). The article focuses on the successful electoral and regimental reforms in order to "unveil" the underlying logic in the reform dynamics during the period under study. Having acknowledged the prevailing intent of reforming in order to strengthen the government’s position, I tackle the problem of finding empirical evidence for demonstrating the degree to which the various reforms point in this direction. Despite the efforts and results, the article shows that the Italian transition is still apparently unfinished, due to the inconsistency with which the reforms were pursued in the electoral and Parliamentary arenas.
Italian Parliament; electoral reform; internal bylaws
