TY - JOUR

T1 - What Kind of Veto Player Is the Italian Senate?

T2 - A Comparative Analysis of European Second Chambers

AU - Vercesi, Michelangelo

PY - 2017/11/30

Y1 - 2017/11/30

N2 - The literature finds evidence that the presence of strong institutional veto players correlates with policy gridlocks. In recent years, in several European countries the rationale of parliamentary second chambers as veto players has been called into question. With regard to Italy, in 2016 the parliament approved a broad constitutional reform, later rejected by a referendum. According to the proponents, this reform would have made Italian institutions more functional in a comparative perspective. Did voters actually block some sort of functionality? To answer this question, this article presents a systematic comparison of second chambers in the European Union. The theoretical framework is based on three dimensions of strength, operationalized by means of quantitative indicators and a comprehensive index of strength. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and a proposal for further research outlooks

AB - The literature finds evidence that the presence of strong institutional veto players correlates with policy gridlocks. In recent years, in several European countries the rationale of parliamentary second chambers as veto players has been called into question. With regard to Italy, in 2016 the parliament approved a broad constitutional reform, later rejected by a referendum. According to the proponents, this reform would have made Italian institutions more functional in a comparative perspective. Did voters actually block some sort of functionality? To answer this question, this article presents a systematic comparison of second chambers in the European Union. The theoretical framework is based on three dimensions of strength, operationalized by means of quantitative indicators and a comprehensive index of strength. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and a proposal for further research outlooks

KW - Politics

KW - Constitutional reform

KW - Italian parliament

KW - Second chambers

KW - Legitimacy

KW - Bicameralism

KW - Representation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85036592673&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/1354571X.2017.1389523

DO - 10.1080/1354571X.2017.1389523

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 22

SP - 604

EP - 623

JO - Journal of Modern Italian Studies

JF - Journal of Modern Italian Studies

SN - 1354-571X

IS - 5

ER -