The party system
From the polarized pluralism to the
bipolar alternation
MAURIZIO COTTA - LUCA VERZICHELLI
IL SISTEMA POLITICO ITALIANO
CHAPTER 3
Topics of this chapter
 Some short remarks on the liberal era
 The interpretations of the First Republic’s party
system
 The new party system after 1994


party organizations
coalitions
An overview: the four Italian party systems
 1861-1918: predominant party
 1919-1924: atomization
 1946-1993: polarized pluralism
 1994- : fractionalized but not polarized multiparty
system
1861-1918: the predominant party
 Limited enfranchisement
 Notable parties
 Liberal Party as predominant actor
1919-1924: the atomization
 General enfranchisement of the male voters
 Coexistence between notable and mass parties
1946-1993: the interpretations
 Giorgio Galli: the imperfect two-party system
 Giovanni Sartori: the polarized multiparty system
 Paolo Farneti: the centripetal multiparty system
1946-1993: some basic facts
 Left-right and religion-laicism as critical cleavages
 Extreme stability of the main political cultures
 Pci and Dc as typical mass parties with a large
membership
 Strong internal competition inside the Dc fueled by
the preferential (personal) vote
 Earliest de-freezing since 1976 onward
1991-1993: the end of the First Republic
 The fall of the international Communism and the
Communist Party change
 The criticisms against the PR (Proportional
Representation) and the 1991 and 1993 electoral
referenda
 Judicial campaign against corruption
1994: the birth of the Second Republic
 March 1994: a critical parliamentary election
 A new mixed-member electoral system
 A three-pole competition
After March 1994: partisan change, basic facts
 The demise of Christian Democrats and center
parties
 The persistent success of Northern League and Forza
Italia
 The change of past-Communist and past-Fascist
parties
The Second Republic’s elections since 1994
The changing coalitions
1994
1996
ESTREMA
SINISTRA
SINISTRA
2001
Rifondazione
Comunista
Progressisti
UlivoRifondazione
Comunista
Ulivo
CENTRO
Patto per l'Italia
Lega Nord
Italia dei ValoriDemocrazia
Europea-Lista
Pannella
DESTRA
Polo delle
Libertà-Polo del
Buongoverno
Polo
delle Libertà
Casa delle
Libertà
Fiamma
Tricolore
Fiamma
Tricolore
ESTREMA
DESTRA
2006
2008
2013
Sinistra
Arcobaleno
Unione
Casa delle
Libertà
Partito
Partito
DemocraticoDemocraticoSinistra Ecologia
Italia dei Valori
e Libertà
Udc
Scelta Civica
Casa delle
Libertà
Casa delle
Libertà
Parliamentary fractionalization, Nepp 1948-2013
8
7.3
7
6.2
6
5.7
5.2
5
4.0 4.1
4
3.5
3
5.1
2.9
3.4
3.6 3.6 3.6
3.5
3.4
3.1
3.1
2
1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013
The party system change since the Nineties
A synthesis
 Electoral coalitions and bipolar competition
 High fractionalization
 Weakness of both larger parties
 Weak leaders in the Leftist coalition
Recent party organizations changes
 From the mass party to the
 Catch-all party
 Cartel party
 Cadre party
 Personal party