List of political parties in Italy

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Italian Republic
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Politics and government of
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Several political parties operate in Italy, and historically there have been even more than today. No one party has ever had the chance of gaining power alone and thus parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

Contents

History [edit]

Between 1945 and 1994, Italian politics was dominated by two major parties: Christian Democracy, the party of government, and the Italian Communist Party, the main opposition party. The other opposition party was the post-fascist Italian Social Movement. 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.

The Christian Democrats led the government consecutively for 46 but five years. Between 1983 to 1991, they steadily shared government with the Socialists, the Republicans, the Democratic Socialists and the Liberals altogether. These were the years 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.

In 1992–1994, 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. Consequently the Communists, who had evolved to become Democratic Party of the Left in 1991, and the post-fascists, who launched the National Alliance, 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: its brand new party called Forza Italia (joined by many members of the former mainstream parties), the National Alliance and Lega Nord.

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. The centre-left 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 and the newly-founded Democratic Party decided to break the alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party and the other parties of the coalition, except Italy of Values and the Italian Radicals. On the centre-right, Forza Italia and National Alliance merged to form The People of Freedom, which continued the alliance with Lega Nord and secured a big majority in both Chambers at the 2008 general election.

In the 2013 general election, the political scenario was much more fragmented with four big groupings: the centre-left led by the Democratic Party, 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.

Active parties [edit]

Major parties [edit]

Active parties having garnered at least 4% in the last general election or having their own group in at least a chamber of the Italian Parliament or 5 MEPs:

Minor parties [edit]

Active parties having garnered at least 0.5% in a general/European election or having had at least 5 MPs, 2 MEPs or 3 elects in 3 different Regional Councils:

Regional parties [edit]

Active parties having garnered at least 1% in a regional election (or in a general/European election at the regional level) or having had at least 2 regional councillors:

Aosta Valley
Piedmont
Lombardy
South Tyrol
Trentino
Veneto
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Emilia-Romagna
Liguria
Tuscany
Marche
Umbria
Molise
Campania
Basilicata
Apulia
Sardinia
Sicily

Parties of the Italians abroad [edit]

Active parties having garnered at least 15% in one constituency in a general election or having had at least 1 MP:

Former parties [edit]

Coalitions [edit]

Former coalitions having garnered at least 15% in a general/European election:

Parties [edit]

Former parties having garnered at least 1% in a general/European election or having had at least 5 MPs or 2 MEPs:

Regional parties [edit]

Former parties having garnered at least 1% in a regional election (or in a general/European election at the regional level) or having had at least 2 regional councillors:

Aosta Valley
Piedmont
Lombardy
Liguria
South Tyrol
Trentino
Veneto
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Molise
Campania
Basilicata
Apulia
Calabria
Sicily
Sardinia

Parties of the Italians abroad [edit]

Former parties having garnered at least 15% in one constituency in a general election or having had at least 1 MP:


References [edit]

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