Political system
Much of the board rule has remained since the 13th century, but now democratic elections with general and equal voting rights apply. The legislative power lies with Parliament, the so-called Great and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale), who in turn appoints two heads of government.
The Grand and General Council has 60 members, who are elected in general and proportional elections for five years. A party must get at least 5 percent of the vote in order to get a mandate, according to the electoral law that changed in 2019, previously it was enough with 3 percent of the votes. In addition, a new rule was introduced that allows the two parties / alliances that received the most votes – but still not enough to control at least 30 seats in Parliament – that for 15 days they would try to form a government before holding a second round of elections. The second round is held between the two largest parties / partial alliances. Whoever wins has the right to be granted additional so-called stability mandate from the losing party alliance to be able to control at least 35 seats in Parliament.
- Countryaah: Total population and chart of San Marino for years of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Also covers population density, birth rate, death rate and population growth rates.
Parliament appoints two of its members to so-called governing captains (Capitani Reggenti), who share the post of head of government and head of state for six months. One of them represents the capital, the other the rest of the country and they are to belong to different parties. They have at their disposal a government with ten members, the State Congress (Congresso di Stato), which is appointed by Parliament and is to have parliamentary support.
Short for SM by Abbreviationfinder, San Marino is divided into nine so-called castles (castelli), constituencies that correspond to the original church assemblies.
Women did not get the right to vote until 1960 and were only allowed to run for parliament in 1973.
Political parties
The party system is in many ways similar to Italian. Governments have often consisted of coalitions with both left and right parties. A new electoral law in 2008 led to all the country’s parties – about a dozen – forming into two alliances, but later alliances emerged.
The Mid-Right Alliance Pact for San Marino (Patto per San Marino) was dominated by the parties that received the most votes, the Christian Democratic Party (Partito Democratico Cristiano Sammarinese, PDCS) and the Liberal Party Popular Alliance (Alleanza Popolare, AP).
The Center-Left Alliance Reforms and Freedom (Riforme e Libertà ) were dominated by the Socialist and Democrats Party (PSD). This was formed in 2005 by the traditional Socialist Party and the Democrats’ party with roots in the old Communist Party. The alliance also included two more radical left parties under the name United Left (Sinistra Unita) and the Christian Democratic Left Party Center Democrats (Democratici di Centro, DdC).
Ahead of the 2012 elections, the two alliances were broken up and three new ones formed. The Socialist Party and the Democrats joined the Christian Democratic Party and the People’s Alliance in the Commonwealth of San Marino (San Marino Bene Comune), which won the election by just over half the votes and received 35 seats.
The Socialist Party (Partito Socialista) and Union for the Republic (Unione per la Repubblica), which joined forces in the Alliance Agreement for the Country (Intesa per il Paese), received just over one-fifth of the vote and 12 seats; Active Citizenship (Cittadinanza Attiva), which consisted of the United Left and the new Citizens’ Movement 10 (Civico 10), received 16 percent of the nine votes. The four remaining parliamentary seats went to yet another newly formed but independent protest party: the Citizens’ Movement Network (Movimento Civico Rete).
Before the November 2016 election, it was time for new collaborations (and new parties). In addition to the Christian Democrats, the Coalition San Marino First of All (San Marino prima di tutto) included the Socialist Party and the San Marines (Sammarinesi) as well as the Party of Socialists and Democrats. Adesso.sm (Nu.sm) consisted of the Social Democratic Left (Sinistra socialista democratica), Citizens’ Movement 10 and the Republic of the Future (Repubblicafutura), while the Alliance Democracy in Movement (Democrazia in movimento) was made up of the Citizens’ Movement Network and the Democracy Movement San Marino together (Movimento democratico San Marino insieme). In addition, two standalone electoral lists were added; In total, more than 200 candidates ran for election.
