Italy's government type is Republic and has been since their constitution was made on January 1, 1948. Italy has a legislative branch called a bicameral Parliament with a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate, a separate judiciary, and an executive branch composed of a Council of Ministers, which is headed by the prime minister. .
Italy's executive branch consists of a President who is elected for a seven-year term by an electoral college of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and representatives of regional councils. The president chooses the prime minister and some Supreme Court judges but has no executive powers. The current President of Italy is Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and the Prime Minister is Silvio Berlusconi. Italy's bicameral Parliament has a Senate with 315 seats and a Chamber of Deputies with 630 seats serving five-year terms. Italy's judicial branch is a constitutional court composed of 15 judges. The president appoints one-third of those judges, another one-third is elected by Parliament, and the ordinary and administrative supreme courts elect the last one-third.
Italy's political parties and leaders are put in three major groups: the Olive Tree, the House of Freedom, and those who are in neither. Olive Tree consists of the Democrats of the Left, the Greens, and the Italian Popular Party. The House of Freedom consists of Forza Italia, the National Alliance, Christian Democratic Center, and the Democratic Union for the Republic. The two most popular parties that aren't with the Olive Tree or the House of Freedom movement are the Northern League, and the Communist Refoundation. .
