The National Council (''Consulta Nazionale'') was an unelected provisional legislative assembly set up in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It fulfilled the roles of parliament until regular elections could be held. It first sat on 25 September 1945 and was dissolved after the national elections on 2 June 1946, which formed the first

Constituent Assembly of Italy The Italian Constituent Assembly ( Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Ital ...

History

The Legislative Decree n. 146 of 5 April 1945 established the National Council, declaring that its purpose was to give opinions and solutions on general problems and on legislative measures promoted by the

Italian government The government of Italy is that of a democratic republic, established by the Italian constitution in 1948. It consists of Legislature, legislative, Executive (government), executive, and Judiciary, judicial subdivisions, as well as of a head of ...

. The government was obliged to hear the opinion of the Council on certain matters such as

state budget A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Government revenues mostly include ...

taxes A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

and

electoral law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management ...

s. The Council, divided into 10 commissions, ratified, among other laws, the legislative decree that assigned to a popular

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

the choice between

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

and

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. It also ratified a law that allowed the

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

for the first time in Italian history. The Council approved also an electoral system based on

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, with multi-member constituencies. Between 25 September 1945 and 9 March 1946 the National Council met a total of 40 times, but some commissions worked until 10 May. After the 1946 general election and

the republic was proclaimed. After the formation of the

Italian Constituent Assembly The Italian Constituent Assembly ( Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Itali ...

, the Council was finally abolished on 24 June 1946.Consulta Nazionale – Portale Storico
/ref>

President

References

External links

www.senato.it
{{Authority control Government agencies established in 1945 1946 disestablishments in Italy 1945 in Italy 1946 in Italy Italian Parliament