ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

1. ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

2. ELECTIONS • Electionsare essentialforrepresentativedemocracy, ascitizens can exercise their right to choose their leaders and representatives. • An electionis a formalprocessin which people vote: • tochoose a person or a groupof people foranofficial position or public office; • toaccept or reject a politicalproposition (directdemocracythrough referendum). • There can begeneralorlocalgovernmentelectionsor otherformsof • ballotsuchasreferendums. • Sometimeselections are used in the executive and judiciary. • They are alsoused in private and business organizations. • At schoolthe electionofrepresentativebodiesguarantees the democratic • participationofteaching and non-teaching staff, parents and, in upper • secondaryschools, students, who are allinvolved in school policy decisions.

3. MAIN FUNCTIONS OF ELECTIONS Tocontributetodemocraticgovernancebycontrollingthose in powerthroughperiodicelections; Toencourage the discussion on public issuesand the expressionof public opinion; Toreinforce the stabilityof the political community; To legitimize the exercise of public authority; Toconfirm the dignityofcitizensashumanbeings and to reinforcetheirsenseofbelonging.

4. ELECTORAL SYSTEMS An electoral system is: a set of rules for conducting elections and counting votes. It is a mechanism which determines the results of elections, converting the vote into a political decision.

5. TYPES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Plurality or Majoritarian systems : 'First-past-the-post' (FPTP) or simple majority ; Two-Round system (Second Ballot) or absolute majority. Proportional Systems: The representative body elected reflects the different distribution of public support for each politicalparty. Mixed Systems: They combine both plurality/majoritarian and proportional representation systems. A mixed system was used in Italy’s general election in March 2018.

6. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IN THE CONTEXT OF ELECTIONS • Exercising the right to vote isrecognizedas a fundamentalhuman right byimportant International treatieslike : • the Universal DeclarationofHumanRights,adoptedby the UnitedNationsGeneralAssembly in 1948; • the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights(adoptedby the UN in 1966 and enteredintoforcefrom 1976). Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

7. Article 21 of theUniversal DeclarationofHumanRightsstates: “Everyonehas the right to take part in the governmentofhiscountry, directly or throughfreelychosenrepresentatives. Everyonehas the right toequalaccessto public service in hiscountry. The willof the people shallbe the basisof the authority ofgovernment; thiswillshallbeexpressed in periodic andgenuine electionswhichshallbebyuniversal and equalsuffrage and shallbeheldbysecret vote or byequivalent free votingprocedures.”

8. The Covenantlinks the right ofpoliticalparticipationthroughelectionstofreedom: - of opinion and expression - ofpeacefulassembly and association - ofmovement - fromdiscrimination - fromfear and intimidation.

9. THE ITALIAN CONSTITUTION AND UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE Article 48 of the Italian Constitution establishes universal suffrage. It says that all citizens, male or female, at home or abroad, who have reached their majority, have the right to vote, which is also a civic duty. It also states that: PERSONAL: voting shall be exercised in person. EQUAL: “All citizens have equal social dignity and are equal before the law, without distinction of sex, race, language, religion, political opinion, personal and social condition”. (article 3) FREE: All citizens have the right to vote freely without fear, intimidation or threats. “ The vote is personal and equal, free and secret” SECRET: It is important to vote anonymously by secret ballot.

10. THE CONQUEST OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE IN ITALY Italy achieved unity only in 1861. It was still a predominantly agricultural country with a delayed development, where women were legally subordinate to men and excluded from political life. The Catholic Church played a central role in defining their position in society. Women’s emancipation movement developed thanks to feminists like: - Anna Maria Mozzoni(1837-1920), the founderof the Leaguefor the Promotion of Women's Interests; - Anna Kuliscioff (1855-1925), a socialist leader. Male suffrage was introduced: - in 1912 by Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti for all male citizens aged 30 and over or 21 with some prerequisites; - in 1918 for all men aged 21 and over or who had served in the army. Women’s suffrage was introduced in Italy only in 1945 andapplied in 1946, first in local elections and thento choose between monarchy and republic (institutional referendum)and to elect the Constituent Assembly. Suffrage for people aged 18 was granted in 1975.

11. THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE • Women’s suffragehasbeenachieved at differenttimesallover the world. • Thisissuebecameimportant in the 19th century. • The strugglewasparticularly intense in Great Britainand the UnitedStates, but the first countriestogrant women’s suffragewereNew Zealand(1893) Australia(1902), Finland (1906), and Norway (1913). • World War I speeded up the process in othercountries. • After World War II, the numberofcountriesincreased. • In some places, however, women continue tobedenied votingrights.

13. THE SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT IN BRITAIN In Great Britain, women’s suffragewasadvocatedby: - Mary Wollstonecraftin“A Vindicationof the Rights of Woman” (1792); - the Chartistmovementof the 1840s; - liberalintellectualslikeJohn Stuart Mill(1806-1873) • A segmentof the women’s suffragemovementbecamemilitant under the leadership ofEmmelinePankurst(1858-1928) and herdaughters. • Manysuffragettesbecameinvolved in violentactions and hungerstrikes in prison. • Public demonstrationswereorganized. • The outbreakofWorld War I stoppedtheirmilitancy, becausemanyofthem supported the war effort. • Thankstotheirnationalist work, British women over 30 obtained the right to vote in 1918, and then in 1928 women over 21 weregrantedvotingequalitywithmen.