1. ITALIAN AND IRISH POLITICS

2. ITALIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM The new electoral system, approved on December 14 2005, is based on proportional representation with a series of thresholds to encourage parties to form coalitions. Both for the lower and higher house of the Parliament, Italy is divided in a certain number of constituencies, in which seats will be distributed according to the share of votes received by a party. Available seats are assigned to these constituencies proportionally to their population. In all cases, the lists of party candidates is given beforehand, and citizens cannot state a preference for any given candidate: if a list wins 10 seats, its first ten candidates will be elected. The law officially recognizes coalitions of parties: to be part of a coalition, a party must sign its official program and indicate a candidate to prime-ministership

3. IRISH ELECTORAL SYSTEM

4. ITALIAN MAIN PARTIES

5. IRISH PARTIES Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party is the largest political party in the State. Fianna Fáil is a constitutional republican party and economically can be described as centrist. The party has evolved economically from favouring a statist protectionist model to acceptance of the mixed economy of today. Their policies are sometimes described as right-wing and neo-liberal, typically by those on the left-wing of the political spectrum. From the 1930s until the late 1980s it was the only party capable of winning an overall majority. In the European Parliament Fianna Fáil is part of the Union for a Europe of Nations group Fine Gael (United Ireland) is the second largest political party in Ireland in terms of the popular vote, Dáil and council representation and the largest Irish party in the European Parliament. It is a member of the European People's Party, and is a centrist party with a strong Christian Democratic outlook. It is strongly pro- European and is opposed to militant republicanism. The Progressive Democrats is a free market liberal party founded in 1985, mainly by members of Fianna Fáil. It is a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR). The current party leader is Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell

6. ITALIAN ELECTION 2006 In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The Union. Preliminary results showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the Chamber of Deputies, with 340 seats to 277, thanks to obtaining a majority bonus (actual votes were distributed 49.81% to 49.74%). The House of Freedoms had secured a slight majority of Senate seats elected within Italy (155 seats to 154), but The Union won 4 of the 6 seats allocated to voters outside Italy, giving them control of both chambers. [13] On April 19, Italy's court of last resort (Corte di Cassazione) ruled that Prodi had indeed won the election, winning control of the Chamber of Deputies by only 24,755 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast, and winning 158 seats in the Senate to 156 for Berlusconi's coalition.

8. IRISH ELECTION 2007

10. ITALIAN GOVERNMENT 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, and occupies the fourth-most important state office. The Presidency of the Council is a constitutional office, established by the Italian constitution by articles 92, 93, 94, 95, and 96. The President of the Council is appointed by the President of the Italian 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

11. IRISH GOVERNMENT The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach, and a deputy prime minister called the Tánaiste. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President after being designated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). The President then appoints the remaining Ministers of the Government after they have been chosen by the Taoiseach and approved by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence of the Dáil if it is to remain in office.