Italian Democratic Socialist Party

For the modern-day party with the identical name, see Italian Democratic Socialist Party (2004).

Italian Democratic Socialist Party Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano

Leading figures	Giuseppe Saragat Pier Luigi Romita Pietro Longo Franco Nicolazzi Antonio Cariglia Carlo Vizzini
Founder	Giuseppe Saragat
Founded	January 11, 1947 (1947-01-11)
Dissolved	May 10, 1998 (1998-05-10)
Split from	Italian Socialist Party
Merged into	Italian Democratic Socialists
Headquarters	Largo Toniolo, 16 Rome
Newspaper	L'Umanità
Ideology	Social democracy Centrism^[1] Pro-Europeanism^[2]
Political position	Centre-left^[1]^[3]
National affiliation	Centrism (1948–58) Organic Centre-left (1962–76) Unified Socialist Party (1966–71) Pentapartito (1980–93)^[4]
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (1992–94)
International affiliation	Socialist International
European Parliament group	Party of European Socialists (1979–94) Forza Europa (1994–95)
Colours	Red (official) Pink (customary)
Politics of Italy Political parties Elections

The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano, PSDI) was a minor social-democratic^[5] political party in Italy. The PSDI, before the 1990s decline in votes and members, had been an important force in Italian politics, being the longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy. The party's founder and longstanding leader was Giuseppe Saragat, who served as President of the Italian Republic from 1964 to 1971.

History

The years of the First Republic

The party was founded as the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (Italian: Partito Socialista dei Lavoratori Italiani, 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 general election.

The split, led by Giuseppe Saragat and the sons of Giacomo Matteotti, took the name of scissione di Palazzo Barberini from the name of a palace in Rome where it took place. In 1952, the party ultimately became the Italian Democratic Socialist Party, after joining forces with the smaller United Socialist Party in 1951.

From 1949 to 1965 members of the PSDI held the presidency of the Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza Sociale (INPS).^[6]

In 1963 the party joined the PSI to form the Unified Socialist Party, but in 1968, after a dismaying result at the general election, it left the new party, returning to the PSDI name in 1971.

In 1980 the party joined Christian Democracy, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Italian Liberal Party in the five-party coalition (Pentapartito) which ruled the country until 1994 (since 1991 without the Republicans). However 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 the Party of European Socialists (PES). Its members of the European Parliament thus sat within the Socialist Group since 1979.^[7]^[8]^[9] In 1994 the party was expelled from the PES.^[10]

Decline and re-foundation

The PSDI was involved in the corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli and almost disappeared from the political scene. The 1994 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.

In 1998 the party, led by Schietroma, finally merged with the Italian Socialists, one of the heirs 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 Christian Democratic Centre (as Enrico 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.

Popular support

Social Democratic leader Giuseppe Saragat in 1964.

The PSDI had its best result at its first appearance in the 1948 general election, when it gained 7.1% of the vote. In that occasion the party was successful in stealing many votes from the Italian Socialist Party, which was damaged by the split as well as by the alliance with the Italian Communist Party in the Popular Democratic Front. The PSDI found its heartlands in Northern Italy: 12.9% in the Province of Torino, 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.^[11]

From 1953 to 1987 the party's support was around 4-5%, with the sole exception of 1963, when it gained 6.1%. In the 1992 general election, the last before Tangentopoli, the PSDI won just 2.7%. The party maintained for decades its strongholds in the North-West and North-East, but since the 1960s it started to gain support in Southern Italy. By 1987 the party's strongholds had moved South, especially Apulia, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily,^[12] similarly to what also the other parties of Pentapartito (Christian Democrats, Socialists, Republicans and Liberals) were experiencing. This was partly due to the growth of regionalist parties in the North (united in Lega Nord since 1991).

After Tangentopoli, Mani pulite and subsequent political crisis, the PSDI has almost disappeared electorally, although it retains some support locally in the South, especially in Apulia.

Leadership

Secretary: Giuseppe Saragat (1947–1948), Alberto Simonini (1948), Ugo Guido Mondolfo (1949), Ludovico D'Aragona (1949), Giuseppe Saragat (1949–1952), Ezio Vigorelli (1952), Giuseppe Romita (1952), Giuseppe Saragat (1952–1954), Gian Matteo Matteotti (1954–1957), Giuseppe Saragat (1957–1964), Mario Tanassi (1964–1966), unification with PSI in the PSU (1966–1969), Mauro Ferri (1969–1972), Mario Tanassi (1972), Flavio Orlandi (1972–1975), Mario Tanassi (1975–1976), Giuseppe Saragat (1976), Pier Luigi Romita (1976–1978), Pietro Longo (1978–1985), Franco Nicolazzi (1985–1988), Antonio Cariglia (1988–1992), Carlo Vizzini (1992–1993), Enrico Ferri (1993–1995), Gian Franco Schietroma (1995–1998)
President: Giuseppe Saragat (1975–1976),
Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Giuseppe Modigliani (1947), Rocco Gullo (1947–1948), Mario Langhena (1948–1950), Luigi Benanni (1950–1951), Ezio Vigorelli (1951–1954), Paolo Rossi (1954–1956), Alberto Simonini (1956–1958), Giuseppe Saragat (1958–1963), Virginio Bertinelli (1963–1966), Mario Tanassi (1966), Egidio Ariosto (1966–1969), Flavio Orlandi (1969–1972), Antonio Cariglia (1972–1976), Luigi Preti (1976–1978), Franco Nicolazzi (1978–1979), Alessandro Reggiani (1979–1987), Filippo Caria (1987–1992), Dino Madaudo (1992), Enrico Ferri (1992–1994)

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Leader
Chamber of Deputies
1948	1,858,116 (#3)	7.7	33 / 574	–	Giuseppe Saragat
1953	1,222,957 (#6)	4.5	14 / 590	19	Giuseppe Saragat
1958	1,345,447 (#5)	4.6	22 / 596	8	Giuseppe Saragat
1963	1,876,271 (#5)	6.1	33 / 630	11	Giuseppe Saragat
1968	4,605,832 (#3)	14.5	91 / 630	58	Giuseppe Saragat
1972	1,718,142 (#5)	5.1	29 / 630	62	Giuseppe Saragat
1976	1,239,492 (#5)	3.4	29 / 630	–	Pier Luigi Romita
1979	1,407,535 (#5)	3.8	29 / 630	–	Pietro Longo
1983	1,508,234 (#6)	4.9	23 / 630	6	Pietro Longo
1987	1,140,209 (#6)	3.0	17 / 630	6	Franco Nicolazzi
1992	1,066,672 (#10)	2.7	16 / 630	1	Antonio Cariglia
1994	179,495 (#14)	0.5	0 / 630	16	Carlo Vizzini

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Leader
Senate of the Republic
1948	1,219,287 (#3)	5.0	10 / 237	–	Giuseppe Saragat
1953	1,046,301 (#6)	4.3	4 / 237	6	Giuseppe Saragat
1958	1,136,803 (#5)	4.4	5 / 246	1	Giuseppe Saragat
1963	1,743,837 (#5)	6.4	14 / 315	9	Giuseppe Saragat
1968	4,354,906 (#3)	15.2	46 / 315	32	Giuseppe Saragat
1972	1,614,273 (#5)	5.4	11 / 315	35	Giuseppe Saragat
1976	974,940 (#5)	3.1	6 / 315	5	Pier Luigi Romita
1979	1,320,729 (#5)	4.2	9 / 315	3	Pietro Longo
1983	1,184,936 (#6)	3.8	8 / 315	6	Pietro Longo
1987	822,593 (#6)	2.5	6 / 315	2	Franco Nicolazzi
1992	853,895 (#10)	2.6	3 / 315	3	Antonio Cariglia
1994	66,589 (#14)	0.2	0 / 315	3	Carlo Vizzini

European Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Leader
European Parliament
1979	1,514,272 (#5)	4.3	4 / 81	–	Pietro Longo
1984	1,225,462 (#6)	3.5	3 / 81	1	Pietro Longo
1989	945,383 (#7)	2.7	2 / 81	1	Antonio Cariglia
1994	227,439 (#13)	0.7	1 / 87	1	Carlo Vizzini

Symbols

1946–1970
1970–1994

References

1 2 "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.
↑ Jean-Pierre Darnis (February 16, 2009). "Continuità e cambiamento dalla DC a Berlusconi". Affari Internazionali.
↑ Di Alberto Stabile (1984-05-01). "Nicolazzi, L' Anti-Longo Sogna Per Il Psdi Un Futuro A Sinistra". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 2013-12-05.
↑ Il Pentapartito - Storia della Repubblica Italiana
↑ Norman Schofield; Gonzalo Caballero, eds. (2011). "Appendix 1". Political Economy of Institutions, Democracy and Voting. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 320. ISBN 978-3-642-19519-8.
↑ A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988 by Paul Ginsborg
↑ "Parlement Européen 1979". Europe-politique. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ "Parlement Européen 1984". Europe-politique. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ "Parlement Européen 1989". Europe-politique. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ Marina Costa Loba; Pedro C. Magalhães (2004). "The Portuguese Socialists and the Third Way". In Giuliano Bonoli; Martin Powell. Social Democratic Party Policies in Contemporary Europe. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-134-40891-7.
↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080626005144/http://elezionistorico.interno.it/area.php?tp=C&dt=18/04/1948. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ "Ministero dell'Interno. Archivio Storico delle Elezioni". Elezionistorico. Retrieved 5 December 2013.

External links

Historical political parties in Italy

Communist

Communist Party of Italy Italian Communist Party Union of Italian Communists (Marxist–Leninist) Proletarian Unity Party Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) Proletarian Democracy Movement of Unitarian Communists Movement for the Left Unite the Left Critical Left Party of Italian Communists

Socialist and social-democratic

Green

Green Lists Rainbow Greens Federalist Greens

Centrist

Populars for Reform Segni Pact Italian Democratic Movement Italian Renewal United Consumers Union for the Republic Pact of Liberal Democrats Southern Democratic Party Middle Italy

Christian-democratic

Conservative-liberal

Liberal Union Economic Party Democratic Union for the New Republic Italian Liberal Party Italian Unionist Movement National Democratic Alliance Liberal Democratic Foundation Liberal Democratic Pole Union of the Centre The Liberals-Sgarbi Forza Italia Liberal Reformers Italian Liberal Right Labour and Freedom List The People of Freedom Future and Freedom

Conservative

Conservative Catholics Combatants' Party Agrarian Party Common Man's Front Italian Democratic Party Monarchist National Party People's Monarchist Party Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity National Democracy National Alliance Movement for Italy I Love Italy

Fascist

Italian Nationalist Association National Fascist Party Republican Fascist Party Italian Social Movement National Front (1967) National Front (1990) National Front (1997) Social Action

Regionalist and Federalist

Slavs and Germans Federalists and Liberal Democrats Federalist Party Federalist Italian League Federal Italy Autonomists for Europe Force of the South

Coalitions of parties

Leftist coalitions	Popular Democratic Front Alliance of Progressives Together with the Union The Left – The Rainbow For the Common Good Anticapitalist and Communist List Federation of the Left Civil Revolution

Centre-left coalitions	Organic Centre-left Socialist Unity Pact of Democrats The Olive Tree The Sunflower United Socialists for Europe The Union Rose in the Fist Italy. Common Good

Centrist coalitions	Centrism Pentapartito Pact for Italy White Flower The Clover New Pole for Italy With Monti for Italy European Choice

Centre-right coalitions	National Democratic Union National Bloc Pole of Freedoms Pole of Good Government Pole for Freedoms Segni Pact – National Alliance House of Freedoms The Autonomy

Rightist coalitions	National Blocs National List National Bloc of Freedom Social Alternative The Right–Tricolour Flame

Mixed coalitions	Historic Compromise Grand Coalition

Politics of Italy
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Current parties
19th-century parties

1950s–1990s political parties in Italy

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Politics of Italy 20th-century Italian parties

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