ABSTRACT
In parliamentary democracies based on the two-party system it is often the case that the powers of parliament are seriously limited by the ability of the government of the day to use its majority to set the agenda of debates and to enact legislation. In a multi-party system, such as the Italian one, there is no pre-given majority. The legitimation of parties was only in part due to the electorate. This had given the Italian Communist Party (PCI) up to one-third of the vote in parliamentary elections and has never given the Italian Social Democratic Party (PSDI) more than 7.2 per cent of the vote. Formally, of course, the British parliament is completely sovereign as it is not even hampered by a written Constitution. The first feature of the post-war Italian parliament which emerged is that it had little continuity with its predecessor, the last pre-fascist parliament.
