Technocratic government (Italy)



In Italy, a technocratic government, technical government (governo tecnico) or government of technicians (governo dei tecnici), is the term used to refer to a cabinet made up of experts not officially affiliated to any political party or political coalition. Technocracy in Italy, as elsewhere, has often proved to be controversial. These governments tend to be formed during emergencies, usually an economic crisis, and are seen by some as undemocratic. There have been two such governments in the history of Italy: the Dini Cabinet, and the Monti Cabinet.

Context


In a technocratic government major decisions are not made by elected politicians, and the government policy is not decided by party leaders.

The Constitution of Italy doesn't prevent non-Members of Parliament from serving as prime minister, as it simply states that the prime minister is appointed by the president and must win a confidence vote in both houses of parliament within ten days of said appointment.

In some cases, in the aftermath of political turmoil, multiple parties in Parliament (who together were able to make up a majority) agreed to support a neutral cabinet of experts headed by an independent prime minister, voting in favor of motions of confidence in the government, in something similar to a confidence and supply agreement. Said cabinets of experts were tasked to deal with the crises and emergencies; once the critical situations were deemed to have been solved, the technocratic Governments resigned, allowing for new elections to be held and for a prime minister with a direct mandate from the people to take their place.



There have been two "governments of experts" in Italian History: the Dini Cabinet, and the Monti Cabinet. Some cabinets, such as the Ciampi Cabinet (1993-1994) and the Draghi Cabinet (2021-2022) were called "technocratic cabinets" or "cabinets of experts", even though they included elected politicians and senior party members in their makeup.