Since the Middle Ages the Meeting (Arengo in Italian) had been declared the supreme authority of the Republic.
However, during the 17th century, the Meeting created the Princely and Sovereign Council to rule the country.
The Council itself refused for centuries to convene the Meeting, passing a law introducing the co-option of its members, so to become fully independent.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Sammarinese Socialist Party called for the restoration of democracy in the country.
Householders were asked whether the system of co-option of councillors for life should continue,[1] and whether the size of councils should be proportionate to the population of the communities they represented.