Statuto Albertino in the context of "Constitution of Italy"

The Italian Parliament (Italian: Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitional National Council (1945–1946) and the Constituent Assembly (1946–1948). It is a bicameral legislature with 600 elected members and a small number of unelected members (senatori a vita). The Italian Parliament is composed of the Chamber of Deputies (with 400 members or deputati elected on a national basis), as well as the Senate of the Republic (with 200 members or senatori elected on a regional basis, plus a small number of senators for life or senatori a vita, either appointed by the President of the Republic or former Presidents themselves, ex officio).

The two Houses are independent from one another and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the Constitution of Italy. By the Constitution, the two houses of the Italian Parliament possess the same powers, unlike in most parliamentary systems. Perfect bicameralism has been codified in its current form since the adoption of the Albertine Statute, and resurged after the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship of the 1920s and 1930s. No distinction is made between deputies and senators, notwithstanding that a member of parliament cannot be at the same time both a senator and a deputy; regarding presidents and vice-presidents, the precedence is given to the older one.

Il Risorgimento (English: "The Resurgence") was a liberal, nationalist newspaper founded in Turin, Italy, on 15 December 1847 by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour and Cesare Balbo, who was a backbone of the "neo-Guelph" party that saw in future a rejuvenated Italy under a republican government with a papal presidency—ideas with which Cavour did not agree. The two men were soon joined by Pietro di Santa Rosa and Michelangelo Castelli, who soon assumed the position of vice-director. Publication began as a result of the relaxation of stringent press control which made the newspaper financially viable. Within weeks the paper, conceived as a weekly, was published daily, as revolutionary events, initiated by an insurgency in Palermo and demonstrations in Genoa, gained momentum. The paper was initiated to form a moderate middle-class "respectable" balance to the more radical "democratic" program of Concordia, which was initiated at the same time. The initial editorial by Cavour made the following claim: "Our aim not being of making money but of enlightening the country and of cooperating with the grand works of "Resurgence" initiated by the government."

Thus without seeming to lead, Cavour's Il Risorgimento offered a regimen of liberal political ideas, of constitutionalism and freedom from foreign control. From its inception, the paper advocated a constitution to be granted by Carlo Alberto of Savoy, the absolute monarch of Sardinia-Piedmont. The eventual constitution was the Statuto Albertino, which was decreed on 8 February 1848. Cavour's editorials were produced with the longer view of preparing Sardinia-Piedmont for a leading role in the coming upheavals, which came to the fore in the revolutionary events of 1848–49. As editor of the newspaper, Cavour gained a great degree of influence in Sardinian politics; in an editorial on 23 March he pressed for a war to drive the Austrians from Lombardy and Venice, where urban revolutions were under way. This proved disastrous for the kingdom with its overwhelming defeat at the Battle of Novara.

Charles Albert (Italian: Carlo Alberto I; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Statuto Albertino, and with the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849).

During the Napoleonic period, Charles Albert resided in France, where he received a liberal education. As Prince of Carignano in 1821, he granted and then withdrew his support for a rebellion which sought to force Victor Emmanuel I to institute a constitutional monarchy. He became a conservative and participated in the legitimist expedition against the Spanish liberals in 1823 known as the "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis".

This is a list of the prime ministers of the Kingdom of Sardina (Italian: Presidenti del Consiglio dei Ministri del Regno di Sardegna) from the granting of the Statuto Albertino in 1848 until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The Kingdom of Sardinia, which was based in Piedmont, is also known as Piedmont-Sardinia.