Government and Politics
Veneto is a semi-presidential representative democracy. The President of the Region, colloquially nicknamed Governor or even Doge in remembrance of Venice's glorious tradition, is also the head of the Regional Government. Legislative power is exerted by the Regional Council, the local parliament. The statute, i.e. the law establishing and regulating the regional institution, which was first promulgated on 22 May 1971, uses the term popolo (people) for Venetians, but, like in the case of Sardinians, this is not a legal recognition of any differences from other Italian citizens. Moreover, the region is not granted a form of autonomy comparable to that of the neighbouring regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. This is the reason why many municipalities have held referendums in order to be united to these regions.
Traditionally a very Catholic region, Veneto was once a stronghold of Christian Democracy. Nowadays it is a stronghold of the centre-right coalition, which has governed the region since 1995, first under President Giancarlo Galan (Forza Italia/The People of Freedom) and, since 2010, Luca Zaia (Liga Veneta).
According to Robert D. Putnam, the "institutional performance" of Veneto's regional government is higher than average in Italy, thus Veneto belongs to the "civic North".
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