Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership . Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution , generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful, such as from a relatively small number of wealthy or noble owners with extensive land holdings (e.g., plantations, large ranches, or agribusiness plots) to individual ownership by those who work the land. Such transfers of ownership may be with or without compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full value of the land.
81-555: Antonio Segni ( Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈseɲɲi] ; 2 February 1891 – 1 December 1972) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the president of Italy from May 1962 to December 1964, and as the prime minister of Italy in two distinct terms between 1955 and 1960. A member of the Christian Democracy party, Segni held numerous prominent offices in Italy's post-war period, serving as
162-599: A "white Bolshevik" for his agrarian reforms. Modern historians assert that landowners were instead favoured by Segni, and his decrees allowed them to reclaim land that had been granted to the peasantry by the preceding administration. In July 1951, after a cabinet reshuffle, Segni left his office as Minister of Agriculture and was appointed the Italian Minister of Public Education in De Gasperi's seventh government , succeeding Guido Gonella . As minister, Segni
243-417: A ballot. For these reasons, during the ballots, there could be votes for public figures not related to politics (actors, singers, soccer players for example or even fictitious characters) or non feasible candidates. Those kinds of votes are not fully beyond a political strategy, considering they're secret and that the first ballots requires a larger winning majority. They may be used to express discontent about
324-449: A candidate. Members of the electoral college, mostly being part of political parties, can make public or undisclosed agreements between each other on a name to vote as candidate, but the votes during the ballot remain secret as only the candidate's name is revealed but not the voter who wrote it so it's not always clear, especially to the public, if such agreements are there and if a party or a group of voters actually comply with them during
405-792: A country's land laws can still be an intensely political process, as reforming land policies serves to change relationships within and between communities, as well as between communities and the state. Thus even small-scale land reforms and legal modifications may be subject to intense debate or conflict. Land ownership and tenure can be perceived as controversial in part because ideas defining what it means to access or control land, such as through "land ownership" or "land tenure", can vary considerably across regions and even within countries. Land reforms, which change what it means to control land, therefore create tensions and conflicts between those who lose and those who gain from these redefinitions (see next section). Western conceptions of land have evolved over
486-484: A moderate conservative, staunchly opposing the "opening to the left" proposed by Fanfani and Moro, but he also tried not to bring his own party too far to the right. He was the first Italian president to resign from office. The frail, often ailing Segni, was affectionately called il malato di ferro , which literally means "the iron invalid". Time once quoted a friend of his: "He is like the Colosseum ; he looks like
567-479: A ruin but he'll be around for a long time." During his presidency, Segni was particularly influenced by General Giovanni De Lorenzo, commander of the Carabinieri, a former partisan with monarchical ideals. On 25 March 1964, De Lorenzo met with Carabinieri's commanders of the divisions of Milan, Rome, and Naples, proposing a response to a hypothetical national crisis, known as Piano Solo . The plan consisted of
648-568: A set of measures to occupy certain institutions, such as Quirinal Palace in Rome, and essential media infrastructures, like television and radio, as well as the neutralisation of communist and socialist parties, with the deportation of hundreds of left-wing politicians to a secret military base in Sardinia . The list of people to be deported also included intellectuals, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini . On 10 May, De Lorenzo presented his plan to Segni, who
729-786: A village community. Different people in a family or community had different rights to access this land for different purposes and at different times. Such rights were often conveyed through oral history and not formally documented. These different ideas of land ownership and tenure are sometimes referred to using different terminology. For example, "formal" or "statutory" land systems refer to ideas of land control more closely affiliated with individual land ownership. "Informal" or "customary" land systems refer to ideas of land control more closely affiliated with land tenure. Terms dictating control over and use of land can therefore take many forms. Some specific examples of present-day or historic forms of formal and informal land ownership include: Land reform
810-566: Is a commonly cited example of the perils of such large-scale reforms, whereby land redistribution contributed to economic decline and increased food insecurity in the country. In cases where land reform has been enacted as part of socialist collectivization , many of the arguments against collectivization more generally apply. An early example of land reform was the Irish Land Acts of 1870–1909. Most all newly independent countries of Eastern and Central Europe implemented land reforms in
891-507: Is a deeply political process and therefore many arguments for and against it have emerged. These arguments vary tremendously over time and place. In the twentieth century, many land reforms emerged from a particular political ideology, such as communism or socialism. In the 19th century in colonized states, a colonial government may have changed the laws dictating land ownership to better consolidate political power or to support its colonial economy. In more recent times, electoral mobilization and
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#1732776695265972-536: Is an intensely political process. Thus, many of those opposed to land reform are nervous as to the underlying motivations of those initiating the reform. For example, some may fear that they will be disadvantaged or victimized as a result of the reforms. Others may fear that they will lose out in the economic and political power struggles (especially in under developed countries) that underlie many land reforms. Other groups and individuals express concerns about land reforms focused on formalization of property rights. While
1053-479: Is former constitutional judge Sergio Mattarella , who was elected on 31 January 2015 , and re-elected on 29 January 2022 . The framers of the Constitution of Italy intended for the president to be an elder statesman of some stature. Article 84 states that any Italian citizen who is fifty or older on election day and enjoys civil and political rights can be elected president. The article also states that
1134-529: Is no clear majority in Parliament. During these times, the president has significant latitude in appointing prime ministers, such as when President Scalfaro appointed Lamberto Dini as prime minister against the wishes of outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , or when President Napolitano appointed Mario Monti in 2011 and Enrico Letta in 2013. This latitude extends even further to cabinet appointments, as in 2018 when President Mattarella blocked
1215-401: Is not entirely ceremonial. For example, the president’s ability to send a piece of legislation back to Parliament is not taken lightly by legislators. While the president is required to promulgate the law if it is passed a second time, in practice legislators are unlikely to ignore his objections to legislation unless the measure is critical. Moreover, the president's few powers expand when there
1296-581: Is presided over by the president of the Chamber of Deputies , who calls for the public counting of the votes. The vote is held in the Palazzo Montecitorio , seat of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event. There is no formal personal candidacy but only proposals from groups within the electoral college or from groups of citizens, so any citizen may be voted or elected, regardless of any expressed intention to be
1377-575: Is reached when the major political parties within the chambers reached an agreement on a willing candidate before that final ballot and their members comply with such agreement during the vote. The president of the Italian Republic assumes office after taking an oath before the Italian Parliament and delivering a presidential address. The presidential term lasts seven years. This prevents any officeholder from being reelected by
1458-916: The Quirinal Palace and also has at his disposal the presidential holdings of Castelporziano , near Rome and Villa Rosebery in Naples . The residence at the Quirinal is guarded by the Corazzieri , an elite cuirassier honor guard that is part of the Carabinieri and has its historical roots in the guards of the House of Savoy . Land reform Land reform may also entail the transfer of land from individual ownership—even peasant ownership in smallholdings —to government-owned collective farms; it has also, in other times and places, referred to
1539-622: The Treaty of Rome , which brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), between Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The Treaty of Rome still remains one of the two most important treaties in the modern-day European Union (EU). Segni had always been a strong supporter of European integration ; according to him, in a world governed by great powers, European unity
1620-556: The University of Perugia . In 1921, he married Laura Carta Caprino (18 April 1896 – 21 July 1977) daughter of a rich landowner, with whom he had four children, including Mario , who would become a prominent politician during the early 1990s. During these years, Segni started his involvement in politics. In 1919, he joined the Italian People's Party (PPI), a Christian democratic party, led by Don Luigi Sturzo . In 1923, he
1701-529: The University of Sassari , while his mother, Annetta Campus, was a housewife. He grew up in a well-off family, involved in Sardinian politics; his father served as municipal and provincial councilor for Sassari, as well as deputy mayor during the early 1910s. He began studying at the University of Sassari, where he would found a section of Azione Cattolica Italiana . In 1913, Segni graduated with merit at
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#17327766952651782-555: The Vajont Dam disaster. On 9 October 1963, a landslide occurred on Monte Toc , in the province of Pordenone . The landslide caused a megatsunami in the artificial lake in which 50 million cubic metres of water overtopped the dam in a wave of 250 metres (820 ft), leading to the complete destruction of several villages and towns, and 1,917 deaths. In the previous months, the Adriatic Society of Electricity (SADE) and
1863-476: The Constitution, the election must be held by a secret ballot , with the senators, deputies and regional representatives all being required to vote . A two-thirds vote is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting; after that, a simple majority suffices. The number of rounds has often been large thanks to the secret ballot and fragmented nature of the Italian Parliament. The election
1944-555: The DC, to deliver a message in case the negotiations around the formation of a new centre-left government would fail. According to some historians, De Lorenzo reported that Segni was ready to give a subsequent mandate to Cesare Merzagora , the president of the Senate, asking him of forming a president's government composed by all the conservative forces in the Italian Parliament. Ultimately, Moro managed to form another centre-left majority. During
2025-698: The Italian Parliament—the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic —meeting in joint session , combined with 58 special electors appointed by the regional councils of the 20 regions of Italy . Three representatives come from each region (save for the Aosta Valley , which due to its small size only appoints one), so as to guarantee representation for localities and minorities. The electoral college currently consists of: According to
2106-631: The Italian Republic ( Italian : Presidente della Repubblica Italiana ), is the head of state of Italy . In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution . The president is the commander-in-chief of the Italian Armed Forces and chairs the High Council of the Judiciary . The president serves a seven-year term, with no term limits. The incumbent president
2187-483: The Italian government, which both owned the dam, dismissed evidence and concealed reports describing the geological instability of Monte Toc on the southern side of the basin and other early warning signs reported prior to the disaster. On the following day, Segni visited the affected areas, promising justice for the victims. Immediately after the disaster, both the government and local authorities insisted on attributing
2268-463: The PSDI withdrew its support for the government, and Segni resigned on 6 May. On 20 May, Adone Zoli sworn in as new head of government. In July 1958, Zoli resigned, after having lost his majority in the Italian Parliament, and Fanfani became the prime minister again. Segni was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and the country's Minister of Defence . As minister, Segni worked to represent
2349-524: The PSI supported Sandro Pertini . After the third round, the PCI and PSI decided to converge on the candidacy of the PSDI, Giuseppe Saragat , who gained also the favor of some DC representatives. After several ballots, Segni was finally elected president on 6 May 1962 with 51% of the votes, 443 votes on a total 854 electors. His election was allowed thanks to the votes of monarchist and neo-fascist representatives. It
2430-474: The Republic and becomes Senator for life ex officio . In the absence of the president of the Republic, including travel abroad, presidential functions are performed by the president of the Senate . The Constitution lays out the duties and powers of the president of the republic, including the following: In practice, the president's office has little real independent authority. The Constitution provides that nearly all presidential acts must be countersigned by
2511-479: The United States. He also tried to represent the reassuring alternative to Fanfani's resourcefulness, advocating for Atlanticism in a season characterized by openings to the left, which was supported by Fanfani. The most comforting signals came from the economy, as industry and commerce expanded, unemployment declined, and Italy's GDP grew by over 6%, a rhythm that placed it among the most dynamic countries in
Antonio Segni - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-669: The University of Sassari, with the thesis Il vadimonium on civil procedure in Roman law . He completed his studies in Rome with Giuseppe Chiovenda, of which he became the favorite student; in the law firm of the jurist, he met Piero Calamandrei , with whom he built a close friendship that would last a lifetime. When the World War I broke out, Segni was enlisted as an artillery officer. Discharged, after some months, he continued his profession as lawyer, specializing in civil procedure. In 1920, he started his academic career as law professor at
2673-443: The actions of management and government. The DC accused the PCI of political profiteering from the tragedy and then-prime minister Giovanni Leone promised to bring justice to the people killed in the disaster. A few months after the end of his premiership, he became the head of SADE's team of lawyers, who significantly reduced the amount of compensation for the survivors and ruled out payment for at least 600 victims. On 25 June 1964,
2754-417: The aftermath of the 1963 Italian general election , which was characterized by a loss for the DC due to its new leftist policies. Despite Segni's opposition, at the end of the year, Moro and the PSI secretary Pietro Nenni launched their first centre-left government, ruling the country for more than four years. As president, Segni had to face one of the most tragic events in Italian republican history, namely
2835-535: The appointment of Paolo Savona to the Ministry of Economy and Finance . Mattarella felt that Savona's Euroscepticism would endanger Italy's relationship with the EU; he took the line that as the guardian of the Constitution, he could not allow this to happen. According to Article 86 of the Constitution, in all the cases in which the president is unable to perform the functions of the office, these shall be performed by
2916-429: The artificial landslide victory of the DC. The campaign of the opposition to the electoral law achieved its goal, as the government coalition won 49.9% of national vote, just a few thousand votes of the threshold for a supermajority , resulting in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Technically, the government won the election, winning a clear working majority of seats in both houses. In July 1953, Segni
2997-459: The country's Minister of Foreign Affairs , Interior , Defence , Agriculture , and Public Education . He was the first Sardinian to become head of state and government. He was also the second shortest-serving president in the history of the Republic and the first to resign from office, due to illness. Segni was born in Sassari in 1891. His father, Celestino Segni, was a lawyer and professor at
3078-651: The development of the land reform . The land reform, approved by the Italian Parliament in October 1950, was financed in part by the funds of the Marshall Plan launched by the United States in 1947 and considered by some scholars as the most important reform of the entire post-war period. Segni's reform proposed, through forced expropriation, the distribution of land to agricultural labourers, thus making them small entrepreneurs and no longer subject to
3159-692: The economic and pro-poor benefits of increased formalized land rights are still inconclusive according to some critics (see "Arguments against land reform" below). Other arguments in support of land reform point to the need to alleviate conflicting land laws, particularly in former colonies, where formal and informal land systems may exist in tension with each other. Such conflicts can make marginalized groups vulnerable to further exploitation. For example, in many countries in Africa with conflicting land laws, AIDS stigmatization has led to an increasing number of AIDS widows being kicked off marital land by in-laws. While
3240-583: The economic and social benefits of formalized land rights are often touted, some research suggests that such reforms are either ineffective or may cause further hardship or conflict. Additional arguments against land reform focus on concerns over equity issues and potential elite capture of land, particularly in regards to reforms focused on greater land formalization. If improperly or inadequately implemented, critics worry that such reforms may further disadvantage marginalized groups such as indigenous communities or women. These concerns also lead to questions about
3321-502: The exact opposite: division of government-owned collective farms into smallholdings. The common characteristic of all land reforms is modification or replacement of existing institutional arrangements governing possession and use of land. Thus, while land reform may be radical in nature, such as through large-scale transfers of land from one group to another, it can also be less dramatic, such as regulatory reforms aimed at improving land administration. Nonetheless, any revision or reform of
Antonio Segni - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-611: The fall of Mussolini's Fascist regime, Segni was one of the founders of Christian Democracy (DC), the heir of the PPI. On 12 December 1944, he was appointed Undersecretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in the second Bonomi government . In the 1946 Italian general election , Segni was elected to the Constituent Assembly for the consistency of Cagliari–Sassari–Nuoro , receiving more than 40,000 votes. On 13 July 1946, he
3483-511: The government introduced a majority bonus system of two-thirds of seats in the country's Chamber of Deputies for the coalition that would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was strongly opposed by both the opposition parties and DC's smaller coalition partners that had no realistic chance of success under this system. The new law was called the scam law by its detractors, including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny
3564-578: The government of Aldo Moro was beaten on the budget law for the Italian Ministry of Education concerning the financing of private education, and on the same day Moro resigned. During the presidential consultations for the formation of a new cabinet, Segni asked Nenni to exit from the government majority. On 16 July, Segni sent the Carabinieri General Giovanni De Lorenzo to a meeting of representatives of
3645-676: The government should have a more critical attitude towards the Anglo-French choices. Moreover, the brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 further divided Segni and Fanfani. Segni opposed an anti-communist legislative intervention, as Fanfani asked. The clash between the two leaders was so bitter that Segni threatened to resign. In his diary, Segni wrote: "The events of Hungary are unfortunately subjected to repressive political speculation. I refuse to speculate on them." In domestic policy, Segni's government
3726-437: The great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit
3807-436: The high school exam with an admission test to university, but this was rejected. His reforms, which also received various appreciations from the opposition parties due to his secular idea of school that was very different from that of Gonella, were not ambitious as the ones of his predecessor. The 1953 Italian general election was characterised by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted,
3888-507: The institutional capacity of governments to implement land reforms as they are designed. Even if a country does have this capacity, critics worry that corruption and patrimonialism will lead to further elite capture . In looking at more radical reforms, such as large-scale land redistribution, arguments against reform include concerns that redistributed land will not be used productively and that owners of expropriated land will not be compensated adequately or compensated at all. Zimbabwe, again,
3969-580: The interests of the Italian Armed Forces , increasing wages and social securities for retired veterans, as well as strengthening military equipment and weapons. He also accepted NATO missile bases for atomic weapons , convinced that they were a necessary tool to ensure the defence of Italy more than a danger that exposed the country to possible reprisals. In January 1959, a conspicuous group of Christian Democrats started voting against their own government, forcing Fanfani to resign on 26 January 1959 after six months in power. In February 1959, Gronchi gave Segni
4050-496: The land will be better stewards of it. Land reforms carried out in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are credited with contributing to the industrial development. The equitable distribution of land led to increasing agricultural outputs, high rural purchasing power and social mobility. Many of the arguments in support of land reform speak to its potentially positive social and economic outcomes. Yet, as mentioned previously, land reform
4131-477: The large landowner. If in some ways the reform had this beneficial result, for others it significantly reduced the size of farms, effectively removing any possibility of transforming them into advanced businesses. This negative element was mitigated and in some cases eliminated by forms of cooperatives . Segni, who was a landowner, ordered the expropriation of most of his own estate in Sardinia. He became known as
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#17327766952654212-466: The negotiations, Nenni had accepted the downsizing of his reform programs. On 17 July, Moro went to the Quirinal Palace , with the acceptance of the assignment and the list of ministers of his second government. On 7 August 1964, during a meeting at the Quirinal Palace with Moro and Saragat, Segni suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage . At the time, he was 73 years old and the first prognosis
4293-447: The official investigation remained classified until the early 1990s. It was released by premier Giulio Andreotti to the parliamentary investigation into Operation Gladio . L'Espresso mentioned that some 20,000 Carabinieri were supposed to be deployed around the country, with more than 5,000 agents in Rome. Segni was never investigated for this fact. President of Italy The president of Italy , officially titled President of
4374-512: The parliamentary deadlock in the 2013 presidential elections and was duly reelected the same day. However, he made it clear that he would not serve his full term and resigned in January 2015. The president of the Italian Republic is elected by an electoral college of 658 members (1,009 in the 2022 election , before the 2020 Italian constitutional referendum which reduced the number of elected parliament members). It comprises both chambers of
4455-415: The past several centuries to place greater emphasis on individual land ownership, formalized through documents such as land titles. Control over land may also be perceived less in terms of individual ownership and more in terms of land use , or through what is known as land tenure. Historically, in many parts of Africa for example, land was not owned by an individual, but rather used by an extended family or
4536-600: The poor in formal legal and economic systems, increase the poor's ability to access credit and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. Many international development organizations and bilateral and multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, have embraced de Soto's ideas, or similar ideas, about the benefits of greater formalized land rights. This has translated into a number of development programs that work with governments and civil society organizations to initiate and implement land reforms. Evidence to support
4617-411: The potential actual candidates, to test or show if a candidate is willing to become president at that moment, to spoil secondary candidates in order to increase interest in main candidates for future ballots, to spoil a potential candidate of the adversary party at the first ballots or to let other parties express their more interesting candidates before a potential winning ballot. Often a successful vote
4698-425: The presidency is incompatible with any other office; therefore, the president-elect must resign any other position before being sworn in. The 1948 Constitution sets the presidential term at seven years. It does not put any term limit on the presidency, although until 2013 no president ever ran for a second term. On 20 April 2013, President Giorgio Napolitano agreed to run for a second term in an attempt to break
4779-560: The president of the Senate, who would temporarily serve as acting president of Italy . In the event of permanent incapacity, death in office or resignation of the president, the president of the Chamber of Deputies shall call an election of a new president within fifteen days, notwithstanding the longer term envisaged during the dissolution of the Parliament or in the three months preceding dissolution. The officeholder resides in Rome at
4860-401: The prime minister or an individual minister since actual political responsibility rests with the government. Most presidential powers are only formal and must be exercised through the government, while many of the others are duties that the president is required to perform. However, pardons and commutations have been recognized as autonomous powers of the president. However, the president's role
4941-706: The repressed. Arguments in support of such reforms gained particular momentum after the publication of The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto in 2000. The poor, he argues, are often unable to secure formal property rights, such as land titles, to the land on which they live or farm because of poor governance, corruption and/or overly complex bureaucracies. Without land titles or other formal documentation of their land assets, they are less able to access formal credit. Political and legal reforms within countries, according to de Soto, will help to include
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#17327766952655022-421: The same houses, which have a five-year mandate, also granting some freedom from excessive political ties to the appointing body. The president's term may end prematurely by voluntary resignation, death in office, permanent disability due to serious illness, or impeachment and conviction for the crimes of high treason or attack on the Constitution. A former president of the Republic is called president emeritus of
5103-423: The successive governments of Amintore Fanfani and Mario Scelba , Segni was not appointed in any office. In the 1955 Italian presidential election held on 28–29 April of that year, Giovanni Gronchi was elected the new president of the Republic. After the election, a political crisis between prime minister Scelba and DC's leader Fanfani broke out. In July 1955, Scelba resigned from the office, and Segni received
5184-421: The task of forming a new cabinet, and he officially sworn in as the new prime minister on 16 February. Segni formed a one-party government, which was composed only by DC members, and was externally supported by minor centre-right and right-wing parties, as well as the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). Segni attempted to strengthen Atlantic solidarity and to present Italy as Europe's most reliable ally of
5265-483: The task of forming a new cabinet. He started consultations with parties to explore the possibilities of forming a new coalition government, obtaining the approval of DC, Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) and Italian Liberal Party (PLI), and the external support from the Italian Republican Party (PRI). On 6 July, Segni sworn in as the new prime minister. On 18 July, the government's program
5346-420: The tragedy to an unexpected and unavoidable natural event. Despite these statements, numerous warnings, signs of danger, and negative appraisals had been disregarded in the previous months and the eventual attempt to safely control the landslide into the lake by lowering its level came when the landslide was almost imminent and was too late to prevent it. The communist newspaper l'Unità was the first to denounce
5427-535: The use of land as a patronage resource have been proposed as possible motivations for land reform efforts, such as the extensive redistributive land reforms of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Arguments in support of land reform focus on its potential social and economic benefits, particularly in developing countries , that may emerge from reforms focused on greater land formalization. Such benefits may include eradicating food insecurity and alleviating rural poverty. And
5508-562: The woman may have both customary and statutory rights to the land, confusion over which set of laws has primacy, or even a lack of knowledge of relevant laws, leave many AIDS widows at a significant disadvantage. Also, conflicting formal and informal land laws can also clog a country's legal system, making it prone to corruption. Additional arguments for land reform focus on the potential environmental benefits of reform. For example, if reform leads to greater security of land ownership , through either formal or informal means, then those that use
5589-494: The world. In social policy, various reforms in social welfare were carried out. A law of 21 March 1959 extended insurance against occupational diseases to agricultural workers, while a law approved on 17 May 1959 introduced a special additional indemnity for retired civil servants. Another important law, dated 4 July 1959, extended pension insurance to all artisans. In March 1960, the PLI withdrew its support to his government and Segni
5670-408: Was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the second De Gasperi government . As minister, he primarily focused on the growth of agricultural production, functional to improving Italy's conditions after the end of the war. Segni tried to reform agricultural contracts but was strongly opposed by conservatives and by many members of the DC. The failure of this legislative proposal accelerated the timing of
5751-511: Was appointed in party's national council. Segni ran in the 1924 Italian general election for Sardinia 's constituency but was not elected. He remained a member of the PPI until all political organizations were dissolved by Benito Mussolini two years later in 1926. For the next 17 years, Segni left political life, continuing to teach civil procedure and agrarian law at the universities of Pavia , Perugia , Cagliari , and Sassari, where he later served as rector from 1946 to 1951. In 1943, after
5832-493: Was approved by the Chamber of Deputies with 293 votes in favour and 265 against. On 22 July, the Senate of the Republic approved the confidence vote with 121 votes in favour and 100 against. Segni's first government is widely considered among the most important cabinets in the history of the Republic. During his premiership, in 1955, Italy became a member of the United Nations (UN) in 1955. In March 1957, Segni signed
5913-477: Was forced to resign. After few months of Fernando Tambroni 's government, Fanfani returned to the premiership on 26 July, this time with an openly centre-left program supported by the PSI abstention, and Segni was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs . In August 1961, Segni and Fanfani made an historic trip to Moscow to meet the Soviet leaders. In May 1962, when Gronchi's term as president of Italy expired, Segni
5994-462: Was not positive. In the interim, Merzagora served as Acting President of the Republic. Segni only partially recovered and decided to retire from office on 6 December 1964. Immediately after his resignation, Segni was appointed senator for life ex officio . The 1964 Italian presidential election resulted in the election of Saragat on 29 December. On 1 December 1972, Segni died in Rome at the age of 81. During all his political career, Segni acted as
6075-450: Was ousted from office in the newly formed government of Alcide De Gasperi . Frustration with the failure to win a supermajority caused significant tensions in the leading coalition, and De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Italian Parliament on 2 August. On 17 August, Italian president Luigi Einaudi appointed Pella as new prime minister, who selected Segni as his Minister of Public Education. Pella remained in power only for five months. In
6156-640: Was particularly active in judiciary policies. A law established the National Council of Economy and Labour (CNEL), as well as the Superior Council of the Judiciary. The most important event of all was the official opening of the Constitutional Court of Italy . In 1957, political tensions arose between the Italian president Gronchi and foreign affairs minister Gaetano Martino , regarding government's foreign policy. In May 1957,
6237-465: Was particularly impressed by it. Journalists Giorgio Galli and Indro Montanelli believed that Segni did not really want to carry out a coup d'état , but that he wanted to use the plan like a threat for political purposes. The coup plans were revealed in 1967, when the journalists Eugenio Scalfari and Lino Jannuzzi published the plan in the Italian news magazine L'Espresso in May 1967. The results of
6318-417: Was particularly involved in the fight against illiteracy , in the improvement of teaching activities, and in the construction of new schools around the country; however, he did not continue the important reforms started by his predecessor. He tried to implement the reform step by step but encountered strong resistance, even in the ministries that were supposed to finance these measures. Segni proposed to replace
6399-590: Was proposed as the DC's candidate by new party's leader Aldo Moro for the 1962 presidential election held on 2–6 May. With Segni's choice, Moro wanted to reassure the conservative representatives of his own party, worried about a possible extreme shift on leftist stances, after the beginning of the organic centre-left period in February 1962. On the first two rounds, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) decided to vote for Umberto Terracini , while
6480-537: Was the first time that DC's official candidate succeeded in being elected president of the Republic. Many influent entities, notably including the Bank of Italy , the Armed Forces, Vatican hierarchies, as well as economic and financial world, were concerned about the entry of the PSI into the government, and considered Segni a reference of stability and their most prominent political landmark. His power grew further in
6561-449: Was the only possible way to influence the world. He also strengthened relations with West Germany, becoming a close friend of Konrad Adenauer . As premier, he also had to face the complicated Suez crisis of 1956, in which he staunchly defended Italy's economic interests in the area, always bearing in mind the need to safeguard Atlantic and European solidarity. During his premiership, Segni often had conflict with Fanfani, who believed that
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