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The Church (and especially the bishop of Rome, the pope) had played an important political role since the times of Constantine, who tried to include it in the imperial administration.

Italy has been a democratic republic since June 2, 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum. The constitution was romulgated on January 1, 1948. The Italian State has a central state authority (the Government), 20 regions and about a hundred provinces. The prefect of each of the provinces is appointed by and responding to the central government, which he locally represents.

After the invasion of Soviet Union failed (1941-42), and the United States entered the war (December 1941), the situation for the Axis started to deteriorate. In May 1943 the Anglo-Americans completely defeated the Italians and the Germans in North Africa, and in July they landed in Sicily. King Victor Emmanuel III reacted by arresting Mussolini and appointing the army chief of staff, Marshal Badoglio, as Prime Minister.

Major political parties, beset by scandal and loss of voter confidence, underwent far-reaching changes. New political forces and new alignments of power emerged in March 1994 national elections. The election saw a major turnover in the new parliament, with 452 out of 630 deputies and 213 out of 315 senators elected for the first time. The 1994 elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi (leader of "House of Freedoms" (Casa delle Libertà) coalition) into office as Prime Minister. Berlusconi, however, was forced to step down in January 1995 when one member of his coalition withdrew support. The Berlusconi government was succeeded by a technical government headed by Prime Minister Lamberto Dini, which left office in early 1996.

Italy has some of the Worlds most ancient tourist resorts, dating back to the time of the Roman Republic, when destinations such as Pompeii, Naples, Capri and especially Baiae were popular with the rich of Roman society.

Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. Over the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Union and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates. Italy joined the Euro from its conception in 1999.

Although Roman Catholicism is the majority religion — 85% of native-born citizens are nominally Catholic — there are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim (see: Islam in Italy) immigrant community. All religious faiths are provided equal freedom before the law by the constitution.

At the beginning of the 16th century Italy started to suffer the effects of an economic crisis due to the move of the main trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Most of the small and weak Italian states were defeated by foreign powers (mainly Spain); some of them (e.g. Milan and Naples) were annexed, others (e.g. Venice and Florence) were reduced to a lesser role. The papacy lost much of its importance both because of military defeats and of Protestant Reformation, which deeply weakened the catholic church.