The Italian Democratic Party, its nature and its Secretary

The Democratic Party (PD) is the only reasonably organized party in the Italian de-structured party system. It is itself undergoing a process of transformation. It defies all traditional party definitions. It is no longer a class-based mass party and not even a mass party. Nobody within the party be...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pasquino, Gianfranco, Valbruzzi, Marco
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Italia
sistema de partidos
partido personalista
liderazgo
primarias
Italy
party system
personalist party
leadership
primaries
Online Access:https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=6089213
Source:Revista española de ciencia política, ISSN 1575-6548, Nº 44, 2017, pags. 275-299
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The Italian Democratic Party, its nature and its Secretary
Summary: The Democratic Party (PD) is the only reasonably organized party in the Italian de-structured party system. It is itself undergoing a process of transformation. It defies all traditional party definitions. It is no longer a class-based mass party and not even a mass party. Nobody within the party believes that such a party can resurrect. It shows many features of a catch-all party, but some of them are by far more prominent than others. It is not simply an electoral-professional party since its aims go beyond just winning the elections and it relies more on internal resources than on outside professionals. At this point, the most appropriate definition is that of a personalist party cum factions. This article tries to explain : (1) how the PD has acquired a dominant position in Italian politics; (2) how its leader has been elected by members and sympathizers of the party; and (3) how much he is trying to transform the PD into a vehicle pursuing his personal ambitions. Much of what Matteo Renzi will achieve or fail to obtain depends on the new electoral law and on the opposition mounted by some actors, especially the Five Stars Movement. The easiest forecast is that in the short-run the Italian party system will remain de-structured providing opportunities, but also volatility risks for the PD and its leader.

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