Democratic Alliance (Italy)

Democratic Alliance
Alleanza Democratica
LeaderWiller Bordon
Founded15 July 1993
Dissolved1 March 1997
Succeeded byDemocratic Union
IdeologySocial liberalism
Political positionCentre-left[1][2][3]
National affiliationAlliance of Progressives (1994)
The Olive Tree (1996)

The Democratic Alliance (Italian: Alleanza Democratica, AD) was a social-liberal[4] political party in Italy.

AD was founded in 1993 with the intent of becoming the container of an alliance of centre-left forces;[5] however, the project did not succeed. As such, AD acted as a minor social-liberal party, proposing economic liberalism, criticism of the Italian left's statism, and a shake-up of the political system.

AD members were mainly former Republicans and former Socialists,[6][7] while its founder and leader, Willer Bordon,[5] was a former member of the Italian Communist Party and the Democratic Party of the Left.

The party ran in the 1994 general election within the Alliance of Progressives and obtained a mere 1.2% of the vote, due to the uneasy alliance with the traditional left and the competition by Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, which embraced most of AD's policies. In the 1995 regional elections AD was part of the Pact of Democrats electoral alliance with the Segni Pact and the Italian Socialists.[8] Most AD members continued to be part of the centre-left coalition, with the notable exceptions of Ferdinando Adornato and Giulio Tremonti, who would eventually join Forza Italia.

In the 1996 general election AD was a minor member of The Olive Tree,[9] and evolved into the Democratic Union (UD) with the entry of other Republicans such as Antonio Maccanico, and some Socialists including Giorgio Benvenuto. The UD would be merged into The Democrats in 1999, and Bordon would serve as a minister in 1999–2001.

References

  1. ^ Roberto Biorcio (2002). "Italy". In Ferdinand Muller-Rommel; Thomas Poguntke (eds.). Green Parties in National Governments. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-135-28826-6.
  2. ^ Fabio Padovano; Roberto Ricciuti, eds. (2007). "Appendix 2". Italian Institutional Reforms: A Public Choice Perspective. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-387-72141-5.
  3. ^ Maurizio Cotta; Luca Verzichelli (2007). Political Institutions in Italy. Oxford University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-19-928470-2.
  4. ^ Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko; Matti Mälkiä, eds. (2007). Encyclopedia of Digital Government. Idea Group Inc (IGI). p. 396. ISBN 978-1-59140-790-4.
  5. ^ a b "Italian Greens Lose Environment Ministry". Environment News Service. Rome. 2000. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  6. ^ Luciano Bardi; Piero Ignazi (1998). "The Italian Party System: The Effective Magnitude of an Earthquake". In Piero Ignazi; Colette Ysmal (eds.). The Organization of Political Parties in Southern Europe. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-275-95612-7.
  7. ^ Nikiforos Diamandouros; Richard Gunther, eds. (2001). "Notes to Pages 346–380". Parties, Politics, and Democracy in the New Southern Europe. JHU Press. p. 424. ISBN 978-0-8018-6518-3.
  8. ^ André Krouwel (2012). Party Transformations in European Democracies. SUNY Press. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-4384-4481-9.
  9. ^ Catherine Moury (2010). "Common Manifestoes and Coalition Governance". In Andrea Mammone; Giuseppe A. Veltri (eds.). Italy Today: The Sick Man of Europe. Routledge. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-135-16493-5.