Abstract
Autore:
Musso Franco
Titolo:
"Il dibattito parlamentare sull´indennità di carica ai deputati (1848-1912)"
The introduction of pay for members of parliament represents an important stage in the history of Italian political institutions, marking the passage from one kind of political class to another. Law no. 665, of 1912, established the conditions for an acceleration in the decline of the political class of the nineteenth century, which was composed of cadres elected on the basis of their economic and social position. These carried out their roles as members of parliament without remuneration, in line with the Statuto albertino, according to which "the functions of senator and deputy do not give rise to any recompense or indemnity" (article 50). The overcoming of this constitutional prohibition was to lead progressively to the introduction of a new political class: that of professional politicians who, according to Weber’s definition, live for politics and live on politics.
This essay uses parliamentary debates to reconstruct the long, controversial and contradictory historical process of the introduction of MPs’ pay over the period 1848-1912. These parliamentary debates are not only decisive in themselves, but are also a precious source of consolidated opinions, doctrinal arguments, political opinions, and collective experiences and moods, which prove an important tool in painting an adequately complex picture of the situation.
