Tracing the history of provincial councils during the last two centuries, it is evident that they were gradually liberated from subordination to the prefects and, after the Fascist era, they were given recognition by the Constitution, by the reforms of the nineties and by Constitutional Law no. 3 of 2001 which afforded them greater autonomy. But it also shows that their duties have always been (especially after the establishment of Regional Councils) fairly minor, so there have often been proposals to abolish them. If we also consider today’s prospects of federalism, however it develops, it is likely to focus more on regional and town councils than on provincial councils, and there have been renewed calls to abolish or reduce the number of provinces also in order to reduce the so-called ‘cost of politics’. Meanwhile, their number, from fifty-nine at the time of Unification, has risen to a hundred and ten without any decrease in the striking differences in surface area, number of municipalities, residents, or value added pro capite. A reduction in the number of provinces seems the only rational alternative to their outright abolition: the decision should look into the reasons for making savings compared with the opportunity of having an intermediate level of territorial government, which is directly representative and perhaps capable, if reformed, of mitigating the inadequacies of the many small municipalities in performing their duties.
Cenni sull'ordinamento provinciale dall'Unificazione alle prospettive federali
MASTRANGELO, Donatantonio
2012-01-01
Abstract
Tracing the history of provincial councils during the last two centuries, it is evident that they were gradually liberated from subordination to the prefects and, after the Fascist era, they were given recognition by the Constitution, by the reforms of the nineties and by Constitutional Law no. 3 of 2001 which afforded them greater autonomy. But it also shows that their duties have always been (especially after the establishment of Regional Councils) fairly minor, so there have often been proposals to abolish them. If we also consider today’s prospects of federalism, however it develops, it is likely to focus more on regional and town councils than on provincial councils, and there have been renewed calls to abolish or reduce the number of provinces also in order to reduce the so-called ‘cost of politics’. Meanwhile, their number, from fifty-nine at the time of Unification, has risen to a hundred and ten without any decrease in the striking differences in surface area, number of municipalities, residents, or value added pro capite. A reduction in the number of provinces seems the only rational alternative to their outright abolition: the decision should look into the reasons for making savings compared with the opportunity of having an intermediate level of territorial government, which is directly representative and perhaps capable, if reformed, of mitigating the inadequacies of the many small municipalities in performing their duties.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
