Abstract

This contribution analyses the institution of regional participation in the election of the President of the Italian Republic provided for in Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Constitution: it gives an account of the interpretation and consequent application that has been given to it in practice, especially since 1971. The Author, after noting that until now the participation of the Regions has been merely symbolic, observes that to finally make it effective, not only must the number of regional «delegates» who are called to take part in the elective «Assembly» be increased, but above all, both at national and local level, the participatory instrument must be interpreted and applied in a radically different manner, starting from the premise that the exercise of the «constitutional function» in question should be an expression of the political autonomy that the Fundamental Law of the Republic recognises to the Regions as «constitutional agencies».