The Legislature IV of Italy () was the 4th legislature of the Italian Republic, and lasted from 16 May 1963 until 4 June 1968. Its composition was the one resulting from the general election of 28 April 1963.

Main chronology Despite a good approval in public opinion, late Fanfani's reformist policy produced a significant mistrust of the Italian industrial class and the right-wing faction of the Christian Democracy (DC).

In the 1963 general election, the Christian Democrats lost almost one million votes, gaining nearly 38%, while the Communists arrived second with 25%.Elezioni del 1963, Ministero dell'Interno However the liberals surged to 7%, their best results ever, receiving many votes from former Christian Democratic supporters, who were against Fanfani's centre-left policies. With the decline of electoral support, the majority of DC members decided to replace Fanfani with a provisional government (also defined "governo balneare", literarily "seaside government", by many journalists) led by impartial President of the Chamber of Deputies, Giovanni Leone.I Governo Leone, camera.it When the congress of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in autumn that year authorized a full engagement of the party into the government, Leone resigned and Aldo Moro became the new Prime Minister.I Governo Moro, governo.it

Aldo Moro's government was unevenly supported by the DC, but also by the PSI, along with the minor Italian Republican Party (PRI) and Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). The coalition was also known as Organic Centre-left and was characterized by consociationalist and social corporatist tendencies.

During Moro's premiership, a wide range of social reforms were carried out. The 1967 Bridge Law (Legge Ponte) introduced urgent housing provisions as part of an envisioned reform of the entire sector, such as the introduction of minimum standards for housing and environment.Legge "Ponte" n. 765/1967 del 6 agosto 1967 (GU n. 218 del 31-8-1967), Studio Tecnico Pagliai A reform, promulgated on 14 December 1963, introduced an annual allowance for university students with income below a given level. Another law, promulgated on 10 March 1968, introduced voluntary public pre-elementary education for children aged three to five years. While a bill, approved on 21 July 1965, extended the program of social security. Moreover, the legal minimum wage was raised, all current pensions were revalued, seniority pensions were introduced (after 35 years of contributions workers could retire even before attaining pensionable age), and within the Social Security National Institute (INPS), a Social Fund (Fondo Sociale) was established, ensuring to all members pensioners a basic uniform pension largely financed by state, known as the "social pension". A law, approved on 22 July 1966, extended social security insurance to small traders, while law of 22 July 1966 extended health insurance to retired traders. Another important reform was implemented with a bill, approved on 29 May 1967, which extended compulsory health insurance to retired farmers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers, and extended health insurance to the unemployed in receipt of unemployment benefits.La svolta di Aldo Moro: i governi di centrosinistra, Il Giornale Moreover, a law of 5 November 1968 extended family allowances to the unemployed who received unemployment benefits.Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II Volume 4 edited by Peter Flora.

On 25 June 1964, the government 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. The right-wing Christian Democratic President of Italy, Antonio Segni, during the presidential consultations for the formation of a new cabinet, asked the socialist leader Pietro Nenni to exit from the government majority.Indro Montanelli, Storia d'Italia Vol. 10, RCS Quotidiani, Milan, 2004, page 379-380.

On 16 July, Segni sent the Carabinieri general, Giovanni De Lorenzo, to a meeting of representatives of 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 President Segni was ready to give a subsequent mandate to the President of the Senate Cesare Merzagora, asking him of forming a "president's government", composed by all the conservative forces in the Parliament.Gianni Flamini, L'Italia dei colpi di Stato, Newton Compton Editori, Rome, page 82.Sergio Romano, Cesare Merzagora: uno statista contro I partiti, in: Corriere della Sera, 14 marzo 2005. Moro, on the other hand, managed to form another centre-left majority. During the negotiations, Nenni had accepted the downsizing of his reform programs and, on 17 July, Moro went to the Quirinal Palace, with the acceptance of the assignment and the list of ministers of his second government.Governo Moro II, governo.it

In August 1964, President Segni suffered a serious cerebral hemorrhage and resigned after a few months.Segni, uomo solo tra sciabole e golpisti, Il Fatto Quotidiano In December presidential election, Moro and his majority tried to elect a leftist politician at the Quirinal Palace. On the twenty-first round of voting, the leader of the PSDI and former President of the Constituent Assembly Giuseppe Saragat was elected president. Saragat was the first left-wing politician to become President of the Republic.Tempers Flare as Italian Parliament Fails to Elect New President, Retrospective BlogI Presidenti – Giuseppe Saragat, Camera dei Deputati

Despite the opposition by Segni and other prominent rightist Christian Democrats, the centre-left coalition, the first one for the Italian post-war political life, stayed in power for nearly five years, until the 1968 general election, which was characterised by a defeat for DC's centre-left allies.Elezioni del 1968, Ministero dell'Interno

Presidential election On 16 December 1964 the Parliament met to elect the fourth President of Italy. On 28 December 1964 the democratic socialist Giuseppe Saragat was elected on the twenty-first ballot with 646 votes out of 927.

Government Prime MinisterParty Term of office GovernmentComposition Took office Left office Giovanni Leone Christian Democracy 21 June 1963 4 December 1963Leone IDCAldo MoroChristian Democracy 4 December 1963 22 July 1964 Moro IDC PSI PSDI PRI 22 July 1964 23 February 1966Moro II 23 February 1966 24 June 1968Moro III

Parliamentary composition Chamber of Deputies

Presidents: Giovanni Leone (DC), elected on 16 May 1963 and resigned on 21 June 1963; Brunetto Bucciarelli-Ducci (DC), elected on 26 June 1963. Vice Presidents: Brunetto Bucciarelli-Ducci (DC, until 26 June 1963), Paolo Rossi (PSDI), Maria Lisa Cinciari Rodano (PCI), Sandro Pertini (PSI), Francesco Restivo (DC, from 11 July 1963 till 23 February 1966), Guido Gonella (DC, from 28 April 1966)

+Initial composition(16 May 1963)Final composition(4 June 1968)Parliamentary groupSeatsParliamentary groupSeatsChange Christian Democracy 260 Christian Democracy 259 1 Italian Communist Party 166 Italian Communist Party 166 Italian Socialist Party 87 Unified Socialist Party 94 26 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 33 Italian Liberal Party 39 Italian Liberal Party 37 2 Italian Social Movement 27 Italian Social Movement 26 1 Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity 8 Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity 8 Italian Republican Party 6 Italian Republican Party 5 1 Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity 24 24 Mixed 4 Mixed 11 7 Südtiroler Volkspartei3 Südtiroler Volkspartei3 Union Valdôtaine1 Union Valdôtaine1 Independent–Non inscrits7 7Total seats 630Total seats 630

Senate of the Republic

Presidents: Cesare Merzagora (Ind), elected on 16 May 1963 and resigned on 7 November 1967; Ennio Zelioli-Lanzini (DC), elected on 8 November 1967. Vice Presidents: Giuseppe Spataro (DC), Domenico Macaggi (PSI, from 14 October 1964), Pietro Secchia (PCI), Ettore Tibaldi (PSI, till 7 October 1964), Ennio Zelioli-Lanzini (DC, till 8 November 1967),

+Initial composition(16 May 1963)Final composition(4 June 1968)Parliamentary groupSeatsParliamentary groupSeatsChange Christian Democracy 133 Christian Democracy 129 3 Italian Communist Party 84 Italian Communist Party 84 Italian Socialist Party 44 Unified Socialist Party 43 15 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 14 Italian Liberal Party 18 Italian Liberal Party 18 Italian Social Movement 15 Italian Social Movement 14 1 Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity 10 10 Mixed 7 Mixed 16 9 Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity2 Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity2 Südtiroler Volkspartei2 Südtiroler Volkspartei2 Union Valdôtaine1 Union Valdôtaine1 Social Christian Sicilian Union1 Social Christian Sicilian Union1 Independents – Non inscrits3 Independents – Non inscrits12 9Total seats 315Total seats 315

Senators for Life Senator Motivation Appointed by From TillUmberto Zanotti BiancoMerits in the artistic and social fieldPresident Luigi Einaudi28 August 1963 (deceased) Giuseppe ParatoreMerits in the social fieldPresident Giovanni Gronchi26 February 1967 (deceased)Giovanni GronchiFormer President of Italy ex officioCesare MerzagoraMerits in the social fieldPresident Antonio SegniFerruccio ParriMerits in the social fieldPresident Antonio SegniMeuccio RuiniMerits in the social and scientific fieldPresident Antonio SegniAntonio SegniFormer President of Italy ex officio6 December 1964Vittorio VallettaMerits in the social field President Giuseppe Saragat28 November 196610 August 1967 (deceased)Eugenio MontaleMerits in the literary fieldPresident Giuseppe Saragat13 June 1967Giovanni LeoneMerits in the social fieldPresident Giuseppe Saragat27 August 1967

References