Italy

This essay examines speechmaking activity in the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 1996 to 2018. Such a period covers almost entirely the phase called the “Second Republic” following a radical change in the electoral rules and the party system that Italy experienced in the early 1990s. Our analysis of the determinants of speechmaking activity shows that the small percentage of MPs holding leading positions within and for their party in the legislative and executive arena (e.g., committee chairs, parliamentary party groups’ leaders, ministers) do speak more in parliament. Our results largely confirm the hypothesis that, in systems where party government is predominant, floor access is strictly controlled by political parties. This hypothesis receives further support from the analysis carried out in the section of this chapter examining the impact of different electoral incentives on speechmaking activity.