The text of the new electoral law, renamed Stabilicum, arrives in the classroom Chamber of Deputies for thefinal approval: since the birth of the Republic in 1946, Italy has modified your own several times electoral systemintroducing structural reforms through new electoral laws such as Mattarellum, The Porcellum or the Rosatellum (the one currently in force, which could be replaced by Stabilicum). But why do these names always end in -um?
The use of “latinorum” originated from Giovanni Sartori, one of the leading Italian experts in Political Science, who in 1993 coined the nickname “Mattarellum” to define ironically the new electoral law drawn up by the current President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella (then deputy of the Christian Democrats). From then on, the press carried on this tradition and ended up creating a custom which still remains strong today.
The political scientist, in reality, he was sceptical towards the new law and therefore decided to rename it in a sarcastic way, referring to the surname of its speaker through the use of Latin. The idea turned out to be a good one, also because until that moment the Mattarella law had been defined by some as “The Minotaur” (due to its dual nature, given that it combined elements of the majoritarian system and others of the proportional system).
The tradition thus began to take root, until it became one custom and not by chance: just like for hurricanes or storms of greater intensity, use gods catchy names and simple helps make them remember more easily.
Among other things, the name with which every electoral law is renamed it does not always depend on its author: if in the case of Mattarellum and of Rosatellum the root of the name derives from whoever wrote it (respectively Sergio Mattarella, today President of the Republic, and Ettore Rosato), the Porcellum it has a peculiar history. The electoral law approved in 2005 was thus renamed after one of its authors, Roberto Calderoli (now Minister for Regional Affairs, among those who contributed to the drafting of the Stabilicum), he said publicly «This law is bullshit».
THE’Italicumhowever, does not derive from its author’s surname, nor does it end in -ellum, but it is the only correct one from a linguistic point of view, given that it is in Latin italicum is the accusative of italicusi.e. Italic. In this case, the name chosen for the law was decided directly by its main promoter, Matteo Renzithen President of the Council of Ministers.
