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This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861.
Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone: parties thus form political alliances and coalition governments.
In the 2018 general election three groupings obtained most of the votes and most of the seats in the two houses of the Italian Parliament: a centre-right coalition, composed of Lega, Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy and minor allies; the anti-establishment Five Star Movement; a centre-left coalition, composed of the Democratic Party and minor allies.
Coalition of parties for regional elections can be slightly different from those for general elections, due to different regional conditions (for instance, in some regions the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party are in coalition, but not in other ones) and the presence of several regional parties, some of which active only at regional level.
History
Between 1945 and 1994, Italian politics was dominated by two major parties: Christian Democracy, the main party of government, and the Italian Communist Party, the main opposition party.[1] During its almost fifty years in government, Christian Democracy chose its coalition partners among four parties: the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Democratic Socialist Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Italian Liberal Party.[2] On the other hand, along with the Communist Party, the other relevant opposition party was the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.
For 46 consecutive years, the Christian Democrats led the Italian government[3] (except for the periods 1981–82 and 1983–86). Between 1981 and 1991, they led a coalition government with the Socialists, the Social Democrats, the Republicans and the Liberals (named Pentapartito).[4] That was the time when several northern regional parties demanding autonomy organised themselves at the regional level. In 1991 they federated themselves into Lega Nord, which became the country's fourth largest party in the 1992 general election.[5]
In 1992–94, the political system was shaken by a series of corruption scandals known collectively as Tangentopoli. These events led to the disappearance of the five parties of government.[6] Consequently, the Communists, who had evolved to become Democratic Party of the Left in 1991, and the post-fascists, who launched National Alliance in 1994, gained strength. Following the 1994 general election, media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi became Prime Minister at the head of a coalition composed mainly of three parties: his brand-new party Forza Italia (joined by several members of defunct mainstream parties), National Alliance and Lega Nord.[7]
Between 1996 and 2008, Italian political parties were organised into two big coalitions, the centre-right Pole for Freedoms (which was renamed House of Freedoms after the re-entry of Lega Nord in 2000) and The Olive Tree (part of the new, broader coalition The Union in 2005) on the centre-left.[8] The latter governed from 1996 to 2001 and again between 2006 and 2008, while the House of Freedoms was in government between 2001 and 2006. In 2008 The Union ceased to exist as the newly founded Democratic Party decided to break the alliance with its left-wing partners, notably including the Communist Refoundation Party. On the centre-right, Forza Italia and National Alliance merged to form The People of Freedom,[9] which continued the alliance with Lega Nord and won the 2008 general election.[10]
In the 2013 general election the party system was fragmented in four groupings: the centre-left composed of the Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom; the traditional centre-right alliance between The People of Freedom and Lega Nord; Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement; and a new centrist coalition around Mario Monti's Civic Choice.[11] In November 2013 The People of Freedom was dissolved and merged into the new Forza Italia, provoking the split of the New Centre-Right. In December 2016 Left Ecology Freedom was dissolved in order to take part to the formation of Italian Left. In February 2017 splinters from the Democratic Party and Italian Left launched the Article One, while in March the New Centre-Right was transformed into Popular Alternative.
In the 2018 general election the major groupings were reduced to three: the centre-right composed of Lega (which was the coalition's largest party for the first time), Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy and minor allies; the Five Star Movement (which was the most voted party); the centre-left composed of the Democratic Party and minor allies. Free and Equal, a new left-wing joint list whose main members were Article One and Italian Left, came a distant fourth.
Active parties
Major parties
Party | Abbr. | Est. | Deputies | Senators | MEPs | Leader | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lega[a] | Lega | 2017 | 133 / 630
|
60 / 315
|
24 / 76
|
Matteo Salvini | |
Five Star Movement | M5S | 2009 | 105 / 630
|
61 / 315
|
5 / 76
|
Giuseppe Conte | |
Democratic Party | PD | 2007 | 97 / 630
|
40 / 315
|
14 / 76
|
Enrico Letta | |
Forza Italia | FI | 2013 | 83 / 630
|
49 / 315
|
10 / 76
|
Silvio Berlusconi | |
Together for the Future | FI | 2022 | 51 / 630
|
10 / 315
|
2 / 76
|
Luigi Di Maio | |
Brothers of Italy | FdI | 2012 | 37 / 630
|
21 / 315
|
8 / 76
|
Giorgia Meloni |
Minor parties
- ^ a b Affiliated with Coraggio Italia
- ^ Including the Italian Radicals (est. in 2001)
Regional parties
Parties of Italians abroad
Area | Party | Abbr. | Est. |
---|---|---|---|
South America | Associative Movement of Italians Abroad | MAIE | 2008 |
South American Union of Italian Emigrants | USEI | 2006 |
Defunct parties
Major parties
- Constitutional Democratic Party (1913–1919)
- Italian Radical Party (1904–1922)
- Liberal Union (1913–1922)
- Italian People's Party (1919–1926)
- Italian Democratic Liberal Party (1921–1926)
- Italian Social Democratic Party (1922–1926)
- Unitary Socialist Party (1922–1925)
- National Fascist Party (1921–1943)
- Common Man's Front (1946–1949)
- Monarchist National Party (1946–1959)
- Unified Socialist Party (1966–1969)
- Italian Communist Party (1921–1991)
- Italian Socialist Party (1892–1994)
- Italian Liberal Party (1922–1994)
- Christian Democracy (1943–1994)
- Italian Social Movement (1946–1995)
- Italian Democratic Socialist Party (1947–1998)
- Democratic Party of the Left (1991–1998)
- Italian People's Party (1994–2002)
- The Democrats (1999–2002)
- Bonino List (1999–2004)
- Democrats of the Left (1998–2007)
- Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (2002–2007)
- Forza Italia (1994–2009)
- National Alliance (1995–2009)
- The People of Freedom (2009–2013)
- Civic Choice (2013–2019)
Minor parties
- Action Party (1853–1867)
- Italian Workers' Party (1882–1892)
- Italian Revolutionary Socialist Party (1881–1893)
- Italian Catholic Electoral Union (1906–1919)
- Conservative Catholics (1913–1919)
- Democratic Party (1913–1919)
- Italian Nationalist Association (1910–1923)
- Combatants' Party (1919–1923)
- Economic Party (1919–1924)
- Italian Reformist Socialist Party (1912–1926)
- Republican Democratic Concentration (1946)
- Action Party (1929–1947)
- Labour Democratic Party (1943–1948)
- Social Christian Party (1943–1948)
- Italian Unionist Movement (1944–1948)
- Unitary Socialist Party (1949–1951)
- National Democratic Alliance (1953–1954)
- Independent Socialist Union (1953–1957)
- Popular Unity (1953–1957)
- People's Monarchist Party (1954–1959)
- Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity (1959–1972)
- Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (1964–1972)
- National Democracy (1977–1979)
- Proletarian Unity Party (1972–1984)
- Pensioners' National Party (1979–1990s)
- Radical Party (1955–1989)
- Federation of Green Lists (1986–1990)
- Rainbow Greens (1989–1990)
- Proletarian Democracy (1978–1991)
- Hunting Fishing Environment (1980s–1990s as a political party)
- Federalists and Liberal Democrats (1994–1996)
- Federalist Italian League (1995–1996)
- Democratic Alliance (1993–1997)
- Union of the Centre (1993–1998)
- Social Christians (1993–1998)
- Republican Left (1994–1998)
- Labour Federation (1994–1998)
- Italian Socialists (1994–1998)
- Movement of Unitarian Communists (1995–1998)
- Christian Democrats for the Republic (1998)
- The Network (1991–1999)
- Pannella List (1992–1999)
- Democratic Union (1996–1999)
- Democratic Union for the Republic (1998–1999)
- Socialist Party (1996–2001)
- Union for the Republic (1999–2001)
- Christian Democratic Centre (1994–2002)
- United Christian Democrats (1995–2002)
- Italian Renewal (1996–2002)
- European Democracy (2001–2002)
- Segni Pact (1993–2003)
- Pact of Liberal Democrats (2003–2006)
- Italian Democratic Socialists (1998–2007)
- Middle Italy (2006–2007)
- The Liberals Sgarbi (1999–2007)
- Autonomists for Europe (2000–2000s)
- Christian Democracy for the Autonomies (2005–2009)
- Liberal Populars (2008–2009)
- Democratic Left (2007–2010)
- Movement for the Left (2009–2010)
- Force of the South (2010–2011)
- Bonino-Pannella List (2009–2012)
- Rights and Freedom (2012)
- Union of Democrats for Europe (1999–2013)
- Christian Democratic Party (2000–2013)
- Critical Left (2007–2013)
- Great South (2011–2013)
- Party of Italian Communists (1998–2014)
- Act to Stop the Decline (2012–2014)
- Future and Freedom (2011–2015)
- Italy Work in Progress (2014–2015)
- Alliance for Italy (2009–2016)
- Left Ecology Freedom (2010–2016)
- The Right (2007–2017)
- New Centre-Right (2013–2017)
- Conservatives and Reformists (2015–2017)
- Movement for the Autonomies (2005–2010s)
- Us with Salvini (2014–2018)
- Liberal Popular Alliance (2015–2018)
- Free Alternative (2015–2019)
- Direction Italy (2017–2019)
- National Movement for Sovereignty (2017–2019)
- Energies for Italy (2016–2020)
- Federation of the Greens (1990–2021)
Regional parties
- Aosta Valley
- Valdostan Rally (1963–1977)
- Popular Democrats (1972–1984)
- Progressive Valdostan Union (1973–1984)
- Independent Autonomists (1991–1993)
- Progressive Democratic Autonomists (1984–1998)
- Autonomist People's Alliance (1992–1998)
- For Aosta Valley (1993–1998)
- Autonomists (1997–2001)
- Alé Vallée (2003–2007)
- Rainbow Aosta Valley (2003–2010)
- Vallée d'Aoste Vive (2005–2010)
- Valdostan Renewal (2006–2010)
- Alternative Greens (1990–2010)
- Autonomist Federation (1998–2014)
- Valdostan Autonomist Popular Edelweiss (2017–2018)
- Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology (2010–2019)
- Progressive Valdostan Union (2013–2019)
- Civic Commitment (2018–2019)
- Piedmont
- Peasants' Party of Italy (1920–1963)
- Piedmontese Union (1981–1992)
- Progett'Azione (2012–2014)
- Lombardy
- Lega Nuova (1991–1992)
- Alleanza Lombarda Autonomia (1989–1996)
- Lega Alpina Lumbarda (1992–1996)
- Lega per l'Autonomia – Alleanza Lombarda (1996–2008)
- Liguria
- New Liguria (1998–2005)
- Trentino
- Independentists Alliance (1950s)
- Craftsman-Farmer Alliance (1964–1968)
- New Left (1978–1983)
- Trentino Tyrolean People's Party (1948–1982)
- Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Union (1982–1988)
- Integral Autonomy (1982–1988)
- Lega Autonomia Trentino (1993–1996)
- Integral Autonomy (1996–2000)
- Trentino Autonomists (2000–2007)
- Trentino Tomorrow (1998–2003)
- Daisy Civic List (1998–2008)
- Democrats for Trentino (2008)
- United Valleys (2006–2008)
- Administer Trentino (2008–2018)
- Trentino Civic List (2013–2019)
- Agire per il Trentino (2016–2020)
- South Tyrol
- Deutscher Verband (1919–1926)
- Tyrolean Homeland Party (1964–1968)
- Social Progressive Party of South Tyrol (1966–1978)
- Social Democratic Party of South Tyrol (1972–1983)
- New Left (1978–1983)
- Party of Independents (1972–1987)
- South Tyrolean Homeland Federation (1974–1989)
- Freedom Party of South Tyrol (1987–1989)
- Democratic Union of Alto Adige (1993–2008)
- Ladins Dolomites (1993–2010s)
- Democratic Party of South Tyrol (1997–2010s)
- Citizens' Union for South Tyrol (1989–2020)
- Veneto
- Union of the Venetian People (1987–1995)
- Lega Autonomia Veneta (1989–2000)
- Toward North (2010–2012)
- Popular Future (2012–2015)
- Tosi List for Veneto (2015–2017)
- North-East Project (2004–2015)
- Venetian Centre-Right (2017–2020)
- Veneto for Autonomy (2017–2020)
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- List for Trieste (1978–2006)
- Lega Autonomia Friuli (1993–1990s)
- Progetto Autonomia (1990s)
- Unione Friuli (1997–2000s)
- Reformist Popular Centre (1998–2003)
- Freedom and Autonomy (2003)
- Tuscany
- More Tuscany (2012–2015)
- Marche
- Marche 2020 (2014–2015)
- Lazio
- Cuoritaliani (2016–2018)
- Molise
- Progressive People's Party (1993–2000s)
- Costruire Democrazia (2009–2010s)
- Campania
- Democratic Populars (2008–2010)
- Forza Campania (2014)
- Apulia
- Apulia First of All (2005–2015)
- Moderates and Populars (2010–2015)
- I the South (2009–2016)
- Basilicata
- The Democrats (1995–1990s)
- I Love Lucania (2010–2013)
- Reality Italy (2013–2018)
- Calabria
- Southern Democratic Party (2006–2007)
- Autonomy and Rights (2010–2014)
- Sicily
- Movement for the Independence of Sicily (1943–1951)
- Autonomist Independentist Liberal Sicilian Union (1950s)
- Sicilian Autonomist and Independentist Concentration (1950s)
- Social Christian Sicilian Union (1958–1963)
- Liberal Socialists (1998–2003)
- Sicilian Spring (2001–2000s)
- New Sicily (2001–2008)
- Sicilian Alliance (2005–2008)
- Autonomist Democrats (2008–2009)
- The Populars of Italy Tomorrow (2010–2012)
- Sicilian People's Movement (2012)
- Reformist Democrats for Sicily (2013–2014)
- Article Four (2013–2014)
- Pact of Democrats for Reforms (2014–2015)
- The Megaphone – Crocetta List (2012–2017)
- Democratic Sicily (2014–2017)
- Centrists for Sicily (2016–2017)
- Party of Sicilians (2012–2017)
- Sardinia
- Sardinian Socialist Action Party (1948–1949)
- Independentist Sardinian Party (1984–1994)
- New Movement (1997–2002)
- Democratic Federation (1994–2007)
- Sardinia Project (2003–2007)
- Sardinia is already Tomorrow (2012–2014)
- The Base (2010–2018)
Parties of Italians abroad
- For Italy in the World (2006)
- Italian Associations in South America (2005–2008)
Coalitions
Active coalitions
Defunct coalitions
- National Bloc (1921–1924)
- National List (1924–1926)
- Popular Democratic Front (1947–1948)
- Centrist coalition (1953)
- Pact for Italy (1994–1995)
- Pole of Freedoms (1994–1995)
- Pole of Good Government (1994–1995)
- Alliance of Progressives (1994–1995)
- Pole for Freedoms (1996–2000)
- The Olive Tree (1995–2007)
- The Union (2000–2008)
- House of Freedoms (2004–2008)
- Italy. Common Good (2012–2013)
- With Monti for Italy (2012–2013)
Parliamentary groups
Parliamentary groups not directly connected to a political party or formed by a coalition of political parties.
Active parliamentary groups
Defunct parliamentary groups
- Dissident Left (1877–1887)
- Historical Far Left (1867–1904)
- Historical Left (1849–1913)
- Historical Right (1849–1913)
- Autonomist Group (1946–1948)
- National Union (1947–1948)
- Ecologist European Federalist Group (1987–1992)
- Independent Left (1968–1992)
- Democratic Left (1994–1996)
- People and Territory (2011–2013)
- National Cohesion (2011–2013)
- For the Third Pole (2011–2013)
- For Italy (2013–2015)
- Popular Area (2014–2017)
- Civics and Innovators (2016–2018)
- Great Autonomies and Freedom (2013–2018)
- Federation of Freedom (2017–2018)
- Europeanists–MAIE–CD (2021)
See also
- List of political parties by region
- Table of political parties in Europe by pancontinental organisation
References
- ^ Robert Leonardi; Douglas A. Wertman (1989). Italian Christian Democracy: The Politics of Dominance. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 179. ISBN 9781349088942.
- ^ Renato Brunetta (2001). "Italy's Other Left". Daedalus. The MIT Press. 130 (3): 25–45. JSTOR 20027704.
- ^ Sondra Z. Koff; Stephen P. Koff (1999). Italy: From the First to the Second Republic. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 9780415196642.
- ^ Martin J. Bull (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 295. ISBN 9780199669745.
- ^ Anna Cento Bull (2000). Social Identities and Political Cultures in Italy. Berghahn Books. p. 4. ISBN 9781571819444.
- ^ Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. 2014. p. 663. ISBN 9781135179328.
- ^ Nicola Maggini (2016). Young People's Voting Behaviour in Europe: A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 55. ISBN 9781137592439.
- ^ Gianfranco Pasquino (2019). Italian Democracy: How It Works. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351401081.
- ^ Erik Jones; Gianfranco Pasquino (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780199669745.
- ^ B. Turner (2017). The Statesman's Yearbook 2009. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 705. ISBN 9781349740277.
- ^ European Party Politics in Times of Crisis. European University Institute. 2019. p. 118. ISBN 9781108483797.