Radical Party (Italy)
Radical Party Partito Radicale | |
|---|---|
| Colours | Orange |
The Radical Party (
For decades, inspired by 19th-century classical radicalism, the Radical Party was a bastion of anti-clericalism, civil libertarianism, feminism, liberalism and radicalism in Italy as well as environmentalism.[7] The party proposed itself as the strongest opposition to the Italian political establishment, seen as corrupt and conservative. Although it never reached high shares of vote and never participated in government, the party had close relations with the other parties of the Italian left—from the Republicans and the Socialists to the Communists and Proletarian Democracy—and opened its ranks also to members of other parties through dual membership.
The party's longtime leader was Marco Pannella (1930–2016), who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1976–1994) and the European Parliament (1979–2009), leading the party in most of the elections it contested.
In 1989, the PR was transformed into the
History
The PR was founded in 1955 by the left wing of the Italian Liberal Party as the ideal continuation of the historical Radical Party, active from 1877 to 1925, emphasising liberal and secular issues such as separation of church and state and the full implementation of the Constitution. Leading members of the new party included Bruno Villabruna, Mario Pannunzio, Ernesto Rossi, Leo Valiani, Guido Calogero, Giovanni Ferrara, Paolo Ungari, Eugenio Scalfari and Marco Pannella.
Following a leadership crisis in 1963, most party members left the PR and joined the Italian Socialist Party or the Italian Republican Party; the remaining members, under the leadership of Pannella and Gianfranco Spadaccia took control of the party, which abandoned its original social-liberal views and adopted a strong left-libertarian position. The "new" PR came to political success in the 1976 general election, when it entered Parliament with four deputies: Pannella, Emma Bonino, Adele Faccio and Mauro Mellini. In the 1979 general election, the party won 3.5% of the vote and elected 18 deputies and two senators, its best result ever and by far the largest gain of any party in the Chamber of Deputies.[8] The relative success of the party was a consequence of the new line impressed by Pannella who moved the party's focus to issues like divorce and abortion, also by winning three referendums on those issues in 1974 and 1981.[9] In 1979, following the first European Parliament direct election, the PR was involved with Coordination of European Green and Radical Parties (CEGRP) and its unsuccessful efforts to create a single pan-European platform for green and radical politics.[10]
From 1976, the PR used the fist and rose emblem created by the French Socialist Party and later used by the Socialist International, although they were not ideologically close: Pannella had managed to obtain the permission because the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) lacked internal support to remove its traditional symbols, which included the Marxist hammer and sickle. In 1980, it decided to add a thick, diagonal black armband as a sign of mourning to its logo to pay homage to the part of humanity which was victim of hunger and war, reflecting its internationalist turn.[1][2]
In the 1980s, the party focused more on international and European issues. Affiliated to the
The Radicals continued to participate in elections through the
Ideology
The PR gave expression to the transformation of Italian society towards more liberal behaviour and ideas in the post-war period. An
Associations
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Awkward language and capitalisation. (March 2019) |
In the 1960s, the PR launched the Italian League for Divorce (Lega Italiana per il Divorzio, LID), which succeeded in marshalling together the secular parties into a unified political alliance and getting the law on divorce approved. During the 1970s, the PR helped launch the Women's Liberation Movement[13] (Movimento di Liberazione della Donna, MLD) by supporting the activities of the Italian Centre for Sterilisation and Abortion (Centro Italiano Sterilizzazioni e Aborti, CISA) and by giving its support to the Italian Revolutionary Homosexual United Front (Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano, FUORI), one of the first Italian homosexual associations. All the aforementioned groups, as well as many others, were part of a Radical movement that was organised as a federation of single-issue associations rather than a united party.
The Italian League for Divorce developed a broad following with the 1974 referendum to repeal the Divorce Law which had been passed three years prior. The referendum was initiated by Gabrio Lombardi with the support of the Christian Church as a form of reactionary opposition to legal divorce.[14] The campaign for a no vote, in opposition to the Christian Democrats, was mostly led by unofficial party leader Marco Pannella, who was a fierce champion for the rights of woman.[15] This led to further connections with left-wing groups within Italy at the time such as the Italian Socialist Party and the Italian Communist Party. Because of the enormous campaigning effort done by Pannella, the divorce referendum resulted in around 60% of citizens voting in favour of protecting divorce laws, and this was considered to be largely to the credit of Radical Party, which emboldened the LID.[16]
The PR found its first connections to Fuori! in the 1970s when Angelo Pezzana, a member of the Radical Party and one of the founders of the Italian Revolutionary Homosexual United Front, had attempted to further politicise the association and connect it with the party.[17] In 1974, at the 14th congress of the Radical Party, Fuori! was officially federated as a part of the Radical Party, resulting in the dissatisfaction and withdrawal of some Fuori! members, such as Mario Mieli.[18] By the 15th congress, which took place in 1976, Fuori! had announced a list of candidates to run for positions within the party, thus marking the first time in which Italy had openly homosexual citizens run as candidates within a party elections, and by 1979, Angelo Pezzana became a member of the Italian parliament.[19] Pezzana was in office for less than a month before retirement, but continued to write on his experiences on the advancement of Italian homosexual rights, as facilitated by the Radical Party.[20]
Considered an early example of a political party placing importance on environmentalist issues, from 1972 onwards the PR also formed environmental organisations, including the Friends of the Earth's Italian chapter, the League Against Vivisection and League Against Hunting.[21]
Popular support
The PR never gained massive support in elections, due to its loose organisation and eclectic profile. Additionally, the party did not file candidates for all the elections and sometimes even supported abstention from voting. The Radicals' strongest showing was in the 1979 general election, when it obtained 3.5% of the vote and 18 deputies.
The PR did better in the North (especially in Piedmont) and in large cities (Rome, Milan, Turin and Naples) than in the South and in rural areas.[22]
Electoral results
Italian Parliament
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 405,574 (9th) | 1.37 | 6 / 596
|
–
|
|
| 1963 | Did not run | –
|
0 / 630
|
 6 |
|
| 1968 | 1,540 (26th) | 0.00 | 0 / 630
|
–
|
|
| 1972 | Did not run | –
|
0 / 630
|
–
|
|
| 1976 | 394,212 (9th) | 1.07 | 4 / 630
|
 4 |
|
| 1979 | 1,264,870 (6th) | 3.45 | 18 / 630
|
14 |
|
| 1983 | 809,810 (8th) | 2.19 | 11 / 630
|
7 |
|
| 1987 | 987,720 (7th) | 2.56 | 13 / 630
|
2 |
|
| Senate of the Republic | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 363,462 (9th) | 1.39 | 0 / 246
|
–
|
|
| 1963 | Did not run | –
|
0 / 315
|
–
|
|
| 1968 | Did not run | –
|
0 / 315
|
–
|
|
| 1972 | Did not run | –
|
0 / 315
|
–
|
|
| 1976 | 265,947 (9th) | 0.85 | 0 / 315
|
–
|
|
| 1979 | 413,444 (6th) | 1.32 | 2 / 315
|
2 |
|
| 1983 | 548,229 (8th) | 1.76 | 1 / 315
|
1 |
|
| 1987 | 572,461 (6th) | 1.77 | 3 / 315
|
2 |
|
European Parliament
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1,285,065 (6th) | 3.67 | 3 / 81
|
–
|
|
| 1984 | 1,199,876 (7th) | 3.67 | 3 / 81
|
–
|
|
| 1989 | 430,150 (11th) | 1.24 | 1 / 81
|
2 |
|
Leadership
- Secretary: Mario Pannunzio (1956–1959), Leopoldo Piccardi (1959–1962), Bruno Villabruna (1962–1963), Marco Pannella (1963–1967), Gianfranco Spadaccia (1967–1968), Mauro Mellini (1968–1969), Angiolo Bandinelli (1969–1970), Roberto Cicciomessere (1970–1971), Angiolo Bandinelli (1971–1973), Giulio Ercolessi (1973–1974), Gianfranco Spadaccia (1974–1976), Adelaide Aglietta (1976–1978), Jean Fabre (1978–1979), Giuseppe Rippa (1979–1980), Francesco Rutelli (1980–1981), Marco Pannella (1981–1983), Roberto Cicciomessere (1983–1984), Giovanni Negri (1984–1988), Sergio Stanzani (1988–1989)
- President: Elio Vittorini (1962–1964), Gianfranco Spadaccia (1964–1967), Marco Pannella (1967–1975), Adele Faccio (1975–1976), Marco Pannella (1976–1981), Enzo Tortora (1981–1986), Marco Pannella (1986–1989)
- Party Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Marco Pannella (1976–1978), Emma Bonino (1978), Mauro Mellini (1979), Marco Pannella (1979), Adelaide Aglietta (1979–1982), Emma Bonino (1982–1983), Marco Pannella (1983–1984), Roberto Cicciomessere (1984), Francesco Rutelli (1984–1988), Giuseppe Calderisi (1988–1992), Marco Pannella (1992–1994)
References
- ^ ISSN 2279-7238. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ^ a b Maestri, Gabriele (28 October 2018). "La rosa nel pugno: simbolo forte, costato 60 milioni di lire". I Simboli della Discordia (in Italian). Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ^ "Iscritti". Istituto Cattaneo. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "Treccani - la cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere".
- ^ Radaelli, Claudio M.; Dossi, Samuele (2011). "Four funerals and a party? : The political repertoire of the Italian radicals".
- ISBN 9780199669745.
- ISBN 9780521323949. Retrieved 4 November 2021 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781071853054.
- ^ David Busato, Il Partito Radicale in Italia da Mario Pannunzio a Marco Pannella, 1996
- ISBN 978-1-134-85145-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-30648-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-139-53658-5.
- OCLC 803790391.
- ^ Delfino, Federico. "Italian divorce referendum (1974): from membership to opinion vote".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Langer, Emily (24 May 2016). "Marco Pannella, Italian politician who mounted hunger strikes for divorce and abortion rights, dies at 86". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- )
- OCLC 41432275.
- OCLC 953976813.
- ^ Radicale, Radio (13 June 1996). "[83702] - "Dentro e fuori" presentazione del libro autobiografico di Angelo Pezzana organizzata dalla casa editrice Sperling & Kupfer presso la libreria Mel Bookstore, in Via Nazionale". Radio Radicale (in Italian). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ISBN 9788820022136.
- ISBN 978-0-7618-5664-1.
- ^ Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia, Zanichelli, Bologna 2009
Sources
- General chronology of the Radical Party, 1955–1989.
- Massimo L. Salvadori, Enciclopedia storica, Zanichelli, Bologna 2000.
- Massimo Teodori; Piero Ignazi; Angelo Panebianco, I nuovi Radicali 1955–1977, Mondadori, Milan 1977.
- Lorenza Ponzone, Il Partito Radicale nella storia politica italiana: 1962–1989, Schena, Fasano 1993.
- David Busato, Il Partito Radicale in Italia da Mario Pannunzio a Marco Pannella, 1996.