Blog 7

Tony Castagno

Blog Post 7

2 November 2012

Prof. Hawkins

Duverger’s Law

            My blog will determine whether Duverger’s law holds true with the Italian government.  Duverger’s law basically states that the number of effective political parties in a government determines the electoral rules of that government.  Using data from the 2008 election (Inter-parliamentary Union) and the appropriate formula I determined that Italy has a total of 3.09 effective political parties.  According to Duverger’s law that would mean that Italy would have to have proportional representation.  Their lower chamber (Chamber of Deputies) is a bicameral, proportional system that uses a party-list system.   Along with their party-lists, parties in Italy form coalitions to gain seats in the government.  In Comparative Politics Pearson describes coalitions governments as, “governments that comprise several parties that hold at least one of the cabinet ministries” (2012, 250).

            In regards to specific rules, the district magnitude in Italy changes amongst districts.  Larger districts are allotted more seats while smaller ones are allocated less.  The actual count is 3 for some districts, 2 for others, and 1 for most.  Also thresholds are used in the Italian electoral rules.  Coalitions must receive at least 10% of the national vote, parties not within coalitions must receive at least 4% of the vote, and smaller parties in coalitions must receive at least 2% of the national vote (Wikipedia).   Duverger’s law holds true for the Italian government.  They have more than 2 effective political parties and they have proportional representation.

REFERENCES

Inter-Parliamentary Union. Parline Database: Italy Camera dei Deputati. http://       www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2157_E.htm. (accessed November 1, 2012)

Samuels, David J. 2012. Comparative Politics. Pearson Publishing

Wikipedia. Italian Parliament. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Italy#      Electoral_System. (accessed November 1, 2012)