The government. – Art. 1 of the law of 24 December 1925, n. 2263, on the attributions and prerogatives of the head of the government, states: “The executive power is exercised by the king through his government. The king’s government is made up of the prime minister secretary of state and the ministers secretary of state. The prime minister is head of the government ”. The aforementioned law fundamentally changed both the form of government and the position of the prime minister. According to the application that since 1848 had always been given to the articles of the statute relating to ministers (there was no mention of the ministry as a collegial body, nor of the prime minister), the government had certainly assumed the typically form in Italy parliamentary because the ministry, although appointed by the king, it was considered almost a committee of the parliamentary majority and could not remain in power if it lost the confidence of parliament. The Prime Minister had a position of pre-eminence over the other members of the ministry, as he represented the government and maintained its unity of political and administrative direction, and generally had management and coordination tasks, but was also subordinate to parliament. For the aforementioned law of 1925, the head of the government, president by right of the Grand Council of Fascism, is solely responsible for the general political direction of the government. The head of the government is directly and personally responsible to the king and the ministers are responsible to the king and to the head of the government for all the acts and provisions of their ministries (art. 2). All political responsibility of the head of government and ministers towards the parliament has therefore disappeared. The primacy of the government over the chambers also results from other provisions of the law on the prime minister, aimed at strengthening the position of the government and defending it against the abuse of discussion or procedural means, such as that no object can now be placed on the order of the government. day of one of the two chambers, without the adhesion of the head of the government.

As for the powers of the government, the law of January 31, 1926 granted him the faculty to “issue juridical norms having the force of law, by royal decree in extraordinary cases”, in which urgent and absolute necessity requires it “. The chief prime minister of the government in this specific capacity countersigns his own appointment, proposes to the king the appointment and dismissal of the other ministers and undersecretaries of state, directs and supervises the work of the ministers, decides any disputes that may arise between them . Some administrative organs or bodies directly depend on him. He is president of the National Council of Corporations. All the members of the government participate collectively in other powers, thus constituting the Council of Ministers, which is however always convened and chaired by the Prime Minister: the secretary of the National Fascist Party can be called to attend, by royal decree, on the proposal of the head of the government. The matters within the competence of the Council of Ministers are those relating to bills, general regulations, international relations, the appointment and dismissal of the highest officials, etc. The council presidency does not have its own ministry, but it does have an undersecretary of state and a cabinet. Each minister then has his own special powers, as head of a part of the administration, that is, of a ministry, the number, constitution and powers of which are established by royal decree on the proposal of the prime minister. There are currently thirteen ministries: Foreign Affairs, Interior, Colonies, Grace and Justice, Finance, War, Navy, Air Force, National Education, Public Works, Agriculture and Forests, Communications, Corporations. As a rule, each minister has the direction of only one ministry and, only exceptionally and temporarily, of more than one of them. The prime minister can instead be entrusted with the permanent management of several ministries. Alongside each minister there are one or more undersecretaries of state who assist him: they do not have their own powers, but only those delegated to them by the respective minister.

The Grand Council of Fascism. – Next to the government of the king and immediately after it, the Grand Council of Fascism took place among the constitutional organs of the Italian state, which “coordinates and integrates all the activities of the regime that arose from the revolution of October 1922” (art. 1 of law no. 2693 of 9 December 1928, modified by that of 14 December 1929, no. 2099). It is a liaison body between party and state, and of the various state constitutional bodies among themselves. The Grand Council is inserted in the executive power, alongside the government of the king, although it has powers that also affect the legislative power, although it is not an integral part of it. Great is the authority of the Grand Council, which comes to it from the fact that it is chaired by the head of the government and from the manner of its formation: it typically represents the merger of the party into the state, and is the major instrument for harmonizing the needs of the new national society, shaped by fascism, with political institutions: it is the supreme political advisory body of the crown and the government. The Grand Council of Fascism is chaired by the head of the government: its secretary is the secretary of the National Fascist Party. For the composition of the Grand Council and other details see council, XI, pp. 196-197. For the composition of the Grand Council and other details see council, XI, pp. 196-197. For the composition of the Grand Council and other details see council, XI, pp. 196-197.