Towards an inadequately rational bicameralism. The Italian Senate 'reform' (1948–1963).

After the adoption of the Italian Constitution, why did the parties choose to reduce instead of emphasizing the differences between the two Chambers that formed the Parliament? This article highlights the importance of the debate held in Italy between 1948 and 1963 on the functions, composition and methods to elect the Senate. The result, the Constitutional Law 3, 1963, eliminated almost all the differences between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. This cannot, therefore, be considered a 'small reform', as it was defined, but one that profoundly conditioned the Italy's subsequent political history and the evolution of Italian bicameralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]