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Italian Democratic Socialist Party

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the modern-day party, see Italian Democratic Socialist Party (2004).
For other parties which claimed the heritage of the original PSDI, see European Liberal Social Democracy, Social Democratic Rebirth, and Social Democrats (Italy).

Italian Democratic Socialist Party
Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano
AbbreviationPSDI
Leading figures
FounderGiuseppe Saragat
Founded11 January 1947; 77 years ago (1947-01-11)
Dissolved10 May 1998; 26 years ago (1998-05-10)
Split fromItalian Socialist Party
Merged intoItalian Democratic Socialists
HeadquartersLargo Toniolo 16, Rome
NewspaperL'Umanità
Youth wingYoung Social Democrats
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliation
European affiliationParty of European Socialists (1992–1994)
European Parliament group
International affiliationSocialist International
Colours
  •   Red (official)
  •   Pink (customary)

The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party,[1][2][3] was a social-democratic political party in Italy.[4] The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy,[5] the PSDI was an important force in Italian politics,[6] before the 1990s decline in votes and members. The party's founder and longstanding leader was Giuseppe Saragat, who served as President of the Italian Republic from 1964 to 1971. Compared to the like-minded Italian Socialist Party, it was more centrist[7][8][9] until Bettino Craxi's leadership, infact, it identified with the centre-left.[10][11][12]

After a rightward shift in the 1990s, which led some observers to question the PSDI as a social democratic party, it was expelled from the European Socialist Party.[13] When Enrico Ferri founded with Luigi Preti the current European Liberal Social Democracy (SOLE), which was in favour of an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition, the choice was stigmatized by the PES and the Socialist International, and an official statement was issued. In January 1995, the party congress put the current of Ferri and Preti in the minority and elected Gian Franco Schietroma as secretary. After the party was disbanded in 1998, the majority went to the Socialist Party of the centre-left coalition, while the party's right-wing current joined centre-right coalition parties. In 2004, the party was established with the same name, Italian Democratic Socialist Party, which remains a minor party associated with both centre-left and centre-right coalitions.

History

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Early years and government coalitions

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The party was founded as the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (PSLI) in 1947 by a splinter group of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) due to the decision of the latter to join the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the Popular Democratic Front's electoral list for the 1948 Italian general election. The split, led by Giuseppe Saragat and the sons of Giacomo Matteotti, took the name ofscissione di Palazzo Barberini, from the name of a palace in Rome where it took place. On 1 May 1951, it joined forces with the smaller Unitary Socialist Party and Labour Democratic Party and took the name Socialist Party – Italian Section of the Socialist International (PS–SIIS). On 7 January 1952, the PS–SIIS was ultimately renamed Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). From 1949 to 1965, members of the PSDI held the presidency of the Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza Sociale (INPS).[14]

In 1966, the party joined the PSI to form the Unified Socialist Party. In 1969, after a disappointing result at the 1968 Italian general election, it left the new unified party, taking the name Unitary Socialist Party (PSU).[15] It returned to the PSDI name in 1971. In 1980, the party joined Christian Democracy (DC), the PSI, the Italian Republican Party (PRI), and the Italian Liberal Party (PLI) in the five-party coalition (Pentapartito), which ruled the country until 1991, and until 1994 without the PRI. The party's role in the coalition was minimal and was over-shadowed by the more powerful PSI. The PSDI was a member of Socialist International and a founder member of the Party of European Socialists (PES). Its members of the European Parliament sat within the Socialist Group since 1979.[16][17][18] In 1994, having grown increasingly conservative among social democratic parties, the PSDI was expelled from the PES.[13]

Decline and re-foundation

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The PSDI was involved in the corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli and almost disappeared from the political scene. The 1994 Italian general election resulted in an almost overnight decline of the Pentapartito coalition parties and the rise of Silvio Berlusconi-led Forza Italia, which absorbed many PSDI voters. In January 1995, Gian Franco Schietroma was elected national secretary of the party replacing Enrico Ferri, who wanted to join the centre-right Pole of Freedoms. The followers of Ferri left and established the European Liberal Social Democracy and joined the centre-right Christian Democratic Centre (CDC).

In 1998, the party, led by Schietroma, finally merged with the Italian Socialists, one of the successor parties of the PSI, to form the Italian Democratic Socialists. By then, most members and voters of the party have joined other parties: Forza Italia (as Carlo Vizzini, party leader in 1992–1993), the CDC (as Ferri, party leader in 1993–1995), and The Democrats (as Franco Bruno). The party was re-established in 2004 with the same name, Italian Democratic Socialist Party, as the continuation of the party of Saragat, so that the new PSDI numbers its congresses in perfect continuity with the late PSDI.

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Party leader Giuseppe Saragat in 1964

The PSDI had its best result at its first appearance in the 1948 Italian general election, when it gained 7.1% of the vote. In that occasion, the party was successful in stealing many votes from the PSI, which was damaged by the split as well as by the alliance with the PCI in the Popular Democratic Front. The PSDI found its heartlands in Northern Italy: 12.9% in the Province of Turin, 11.9% in Cuneo, 10.6% in Milan, 13.9% in Sondrio, 12.6% in Treviso, 15.9% in Belluno, and 14.9% in Udine.[19]

Starting in the 1953 Italian general election, the party's support was around 4–5%, with the sole exception of the 1963 Italian general election, when it gained 6.1%. In the 1992 Italian general election, the last before Tangentopoli, the PSDI won 2.7%. The party maintained for decades its strongholds in the North-West and North-East; since the 1960s, it started to gain support in Southern Italy. By the 1987 Italian general election, the party's strongholds had moved South, especially Apulia, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, and Sicily,[20] similarly to what also the other parties of Pentapartito (DC, PSI, PRI, and PLI) were experiencing. This was partly due to the growth of regionalist parties in the North, which were united in Lega Nord starting in 1991. After Tangentopoli, Mani pulite, and subsequent political crisis, the PSDI almost disappeared electorally; it retained some support locally in the South, especially in Apulia.

The electoral results of PSDI in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1948 are shown in the chart above.

Electoral results

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Italian Parliament

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Chamber of Deputies
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1948 1,858,116 (3rd) 7.7
33 / 574
–
Giuseppe Saragat
1953 1,222,957 (6th) 4.5
14 / 590
Decrease 19
Giuseppe Saragat
1958 1,345,447 (5th) 4.6
22 / 596
Increase 8
Giuseppe Saragat
1963 1,876,271 (5th) 6.1
33 / 630
Increase 11
Giuseppe Saragat
1968 Into PSU –
29 / 630
Decrease 4
Giuseppe Saragat
1972 1,718,142 (5th) 5.1
29 / 630
–
Mario Tanassi
1976 1,239,492 (5th) 3.4
15 / 630
Decrease 14
Pier Luigi Romita
1979 1,407,535 (5th) 3.8
20 / 630
Increase 5
Pietro Longo
1983 1,508,234 (6th) 4.9
23 / 630
Increase 3
Pietro Longo
1987 1,140,209 (6th) 3.0
17 / 630
Decrease 6
Franco Nicolazzi
1992 1,066,672 (10th) 2.7
16 / 630
Decrease 1
Antonio Cariglia
1994 179,495 (14th) 0.5
0 / 630
Decrease 16
Carlo Vizzini
Senate of the Republic
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1948 1,219,287 (3rd) 5.0
10 / 237
–
Giuseppe Saragat
1953 1,046,301 (6th) 4.3
4 / 237
Decrease 6
Giuseppe Saragat
1958 1,136,803 (5th) 4.4
5 / 246
Increase 1
Giuseppe Saragat
1963 1,743,837 (5th) 6.4
14 / 315
Increase 9
Giuseppe Saragat
1968 Into PSU –
10 / 315
Decrease 4
Giuseppe Saragat
1972 1,614,273 (5th) 5.4
11 / 315
Increase 1
Mario Tanassi
1976 974,940 (5th) 3.1
6 / 315
Decrease 5
Pier Luigi Romita
1979 1,320,729 (5th) 4.2
9 / 315
Increase 3
Pietro Longo
1983 1,184,936 (6th) 3.8
8 / 315
Decrease 1
Pietro Longo
1987 822,593 (6th) 2.5
6 / 315
Decrease 2
Franco Nicolazzi
1992 853,895 (10th) 2.6
3 / 315
Decrease 3
Antonio Cariglia
1994 66,589 (14th) 0.2
0 / 315
Decrease 3
Carlo Vizzini

European Parliament

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European Parliament
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1979 1,514,272 (5th) 4.3
4 / 81
–
Pietro Longo
1984 1,225,462 (6th) 3.5
3 / 81
Decrease 1
Pietro Longo
1989 945,383 (7th) 2.7
2 / 81
Decrease 1
Antonio Cariglia
1994 227,439 (13th) 0.7
1 / 87
Decrease 1
Carlo Vizzini

Regional elections

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Regions of Italy
Election year Votes % Seats +/− Leader
1970 1,897,034 (4th) 7.0
41 / 720
–
Giuseppe Saragat
1975 1,701,864 (5th) 5.6
36 / 720
Decrease 5
Mario Tanassi
1980 1,505,607 (5th) 5.0
31 / 720
Decrease 5
Pietro Longo
1985 1,150,788 (6th) 3.6
23 / 720
Decrease 8
Pietro Longo
1990 894,318 (6th) 2.8
21 / 720
Decrease 2
Antonio Cariglia

Symbols

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  • 1947–1948
    1947–1948
  • 1948–1983
    1948–1983
  • Unified PSI-PSDI symbol, 1966–1969
    Unified PSI-PSDI symbol, 1966–1969
  • 1983–1992
    1983–1992

Leadership

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References

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  1. ^ Political Systems Of The World. Allied Publishers. p. 193. ISBN 9788170233077.
  2. ^ Social Democratic Parties in the European Union. Springer. 13 January 1999. p. 228. ISBN 9780230374140.
  3. ^ The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press. 2015. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-19-966974-5.
  4. ^ Lawrence Ezrow (2011). "Electoral Systems and Party Responsiveness". In Norman Schofield; Gonzalo Caballero (eds.). Political Economy of Institutions, Democracy and Voting. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 320. ISBN 978-3-642-19519-8.
  5. ^ Marco Valbruzzi (2015). "Trasformismo". In Erik Jones; Gianfranco Pasquino (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. OUP. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-19-966974-5.
  6. ^ Il Pentapartito – Storia della Repubblica Italiana
  7. ^ Michael Sommer (2002). "Im Süden nichts Neues: Zur aktuellen Entwicklung des italienischen Parteiensystems" (PDF). Politische Vierteljahresschrift. Westdeutscher Verlag. p. 115.
  8. ^ "Il punto sull'attivita' e sulla collocazione politica del PSDI; la olidarieta' del PSDI al digiuno di Marco Pannella contro la disinformazione della RAI in particolar modo sui 13 referendum". RadioRadicale (in Italian). 21 January 1994. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  9. ^ Günter Trautmann (1984). "Entpolitisierung und demographischer Machtwechsel in den politischen Systemen Frankreichs und Italiens seit 1972/73". In Jürgen W. Falter; Christian Fenner; Michael Th. Greven (eds.). Politische Willensbildung und lnteressenvermittlung. p. 185. doi:10.1007/978-3-663-14338-3. ISBN 978-3-663-14338-3.
  10. ^ Di Alberto Stabile (1 May 1984). "Nicolazzi, L' Anti-Longo Sogna Per Il Psdi Un Futuro A Sinistra". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Il punto sull'attivita' e sulla collocazione politica del PSDI; la solidarieta' del PSDI al digiuno di Marco Pannella contro la disinformazione della RAI in particolar modo sui 13 referendum". RadioRadicale (in Italian). 21 January 1994. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  12. ^ "The Fate of the Party". Jacobin. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  13. ^ a b Marina Costa Loba; Pedro C. Magalhães (2004). "The Portuguese Socialists and the Third Way". In Giuliano Bonoli; Martin Powell (eds.). Social Democratic Party Policies in Contemporary Europe. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-134-40891-7.
  14. ^ A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943–1988 by Paul Ginsborg
  15. ^ Alessandro Orsini (2015). Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists. Cornell University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-80-146139-2.
  16. ^ "Parlement Européen 1979". Europe-politique. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  17. ^ "Parlement Européen 1984". Europe-politique. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Parlement Européen 1989". Europe-politique. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  19. ^ "::: Ministero dell'Interno ::: Archivio Storico delle Elezioni - Camera del 18 Aprile 1948". Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  20. ^ "Ministero dell'Interno. Archivio Storico delle Elezioni". Elezionistorico. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
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