Chamber of Deputies (Istalia)

The Chamber of Deputies (Istalian: Camera dei Deputati), sometimes simply call Camera, is the lower house of the bicameral Istalian Parliament. It consists, since 4354, of 505 Deputies who are styled The Honourable (Istalian: Onorevole) and meet at the Palace of the Republica. Deputies are elected every four years by universal ballot. The President of the Chamber of Deputies (istalian: Presidente della Camera dei Deputati), who is elected during the first session of the chamber after the election, presides over the works of the Chamber. Together with the upper house of the parliament - Senate of the Republic (istalian: Senato della Repubblica) it forms the Istalian Parliament. Due to the fact that the Chamber retains most part of the legislative powers, being the the Istalian Parliament an imperfect bicameral system, it has a preminence role into the Istalian political system.

Functioning
For most part of the current and the previous Istalian Republic the Chamber of Deputies has been the veritable heart of the Istalian politics. Sometime it was generally called Parliament of Istalia, especially under the periods during which the Parliament was unicameral. For a brief time under the unicameral regimes, it was also used the name Senate, which however was always used for the upper house when provided by the Constitution. The Joint Session of the Parliament met into the plenary hall of the Chamber and is called only when provided by the Constitution. The Chamber is now composed of 505 deputies. The assembly also has the right to attend meetings of the Government and its ministers. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session. Conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires. The term of office of the House (as well as the Senate), as mentioned, is four years, unless an early dissolution of the Chamber is called by the President of the Republic or by a vote of the Chamber, but can be extended in two cases:

• When the term of the Deputies has expired, they shall continue to exercise their functions until the first meeting of the new Chamber after the elections.

• An extension of the term can be enacted only in case of war.

Powers
The Chamber of Deputies is the only government body which can approve the laws, the budget laws, the treaties and which can declared war. However, for the laws interesting matters and issues related to the subnational division and for the Constitutional laws, it's required a positive vote also by part of the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies, as one of its main and major power, is also the only house which can express a vote of confidence to the Government as well as express a vote of no-confidence for the President of the Council, and so for all the Cabinet, or for single ministers.

Election
The Deputies are elected through a proportional system by voluntary, universal, direct suffrage by all citizens of age (18) on election day. The territory of Istalia is divided into 5 large constituencies, corresponding to the 5 Regions of Istalia. The current electoral system provides a proportional algorithm that gives a very small advantage to larger regions, however, due to the fact that currently the population is evenly distributed into the five regions, each constituencies elects 101 deputies. The seats are then allocated on a proportional representation basis per region via the D'Hondt method.

Membership
      Main article: Current membership of the Chamber of Deputies

Location
The seat of the Chamber of Deputies, since 4238 is the Palace of the Republic, where also the Senate meets. Previously the historical seat of the Chamber has been the Palace of Parliament which was destroyed in 4044 before the Istalian Civil War.