Italian Democratic Socialist Party

For the modern-day party, see Italian Democratic Socialist Party (2004).
For other parties which claimed the heritage of the original PSDI, see European Liberal Social Democracy, Social Democratic Rebirth, and Social Democrats (Italy).

Italian Democratic Socialist Party
Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano
AbbreviationPSDI
Leading figures
FounderGiuseppe Saragat
Founded11 January 1947; 77 years ago (1947-01-11)
Dissolved10 May 1998; 26 years ago (1998-05-10)
Split fromItalian Socialist Party
Merged intoItalian Democratic Socialists
HeadquartersLargo Toniolo 16, Rome
NewspaperL'Umanità
Youth wingYoung Social Democrats
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliation
European affiliationParty of European Socialists (1992–1994)
European Parliament group
International affiliationSocialist International
Colours
  •   Red (official)
  •   Pink (customary)

The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Italian: Partito Socialista Democratico Italiano, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party,[1][2][3] was a social-democratic political party in Italy.[4] The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy,[5] the PSDI was an important force in Italian politics,[6] before the 1990s decline in votes and members. The party's founder and longstanding leader was Giuseppe Saragat, who served as President of the Italian Republic from 1964 to 1971. Compared to the like-minded Italian Socialist Party, it was more centrist,[7][8][9] at least until Bettino Craxi's leadership, infact, it identified with the centre-left.[10][11][12]

After a rightward shift in the 1990s, which led some observers to question the PSDI as a social democratic party, it was expelled from the European Socialist Party.[13] When Enrico Ferri founded with Luigi Preti the current European Liberal Social Democracy (SOLE), which was in favour of an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition, the choice was stigmatized by the PES and the Socialist International, and an official statement was issued. In January 1995, the party congress put the current of Ferri and Preti in the minority and elected Gian Franco Schietroma as secretary. After the party was disbanded in 1998, the majority went to the Socialist Party of the centre-left coalition, while the party's right-wing current joined centre-right coalition parties. In 2004, the party was established with the same name, Italian Democratic Socialist Party, which remains a minor party associated with both centre-left and centre-right coalitions.

  1. ^ Political Systems Of The World. Allied Publishers. p. 193. ISBN 9788170233077.
  2. ^ Social Democratic Parties in the European Union. Springer. 13 January 1999. p. 228. ISBN 9780230374140.
  3. ^ The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press. 2015. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-19-966974-5.
  4. ^ Lawrence Ezrow (2011). "Electoral Systems and Party Responsiveness". In Norman Schofield; Gonzalo Caballero (eds.). Political Economy of Institutions, Democracy and Voting. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 320. ISBN 978-3-642-19519-8.
  5. ^ Marco Valbruzzi (2015). "Trasformismo". In Erik Jones; Gianfranco Pasquino (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. OUP. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-19-966974-5.
  6. ^ Il Pentapartito – Storia della Repubblica Italiana
  7. ^ Michael Sommer (2002). "Im Süden nichts Neues: Zur aktuellen Entwicklung des italienischen Parteiensystems" (PDF). Politische Vierteljahresschrift. Westdeutscher Verlag. p. 115.
  8. ^ "Il punto sull'attivita' e sulla collocazione politica del PSDI; la olidarieta' del PSDI al digiuno di Marco Pannella contro la disinformazione della RAI in particolar modo sui 13 referendum". RadioRadicale (in Italian). 21 January 1994. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  9. ^ Günter Trautmann (1984). "Entpolitisierung und demographischer Machtwechsel in den politischen Systemen Frankreichs und Italiens seit 1972/73". In Jürgen W. Falter; Christian Fenner; Michael Th. Greven (eds.). Politische Willensbildung und lnteressenvermittlung. p. 185. doi:10.1007/978-3-663-14338-3. ISBN 978-3-663-14338-3.
  10. ^ Di Alberto Stabile (1 May 1984). "Nicolazzi, L' Anti-Longo Sogna Per Il Psdi Un Futuro A Sinistra". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Il punto sull'attivita' e sulla collocazione politica del PSDI; la solidarieta' del PSDI al digiuno di Marco Pannella contro la disinformazione della RAI in particolar modo sui 13 referendum". RadioRadicale (in Italian). 21 January 1994. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  12. ^ "The Fate of the Party". Jacobin. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  13. ^ Marina Costa Loba; Pedro C. Magalhães (2004). "The Portuguese Socialists and the Third Way". In Giuliano Bonoli; Martin Powell (eds.). Social Democratic Party Policies in Contemporary Europe. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-134-40891-7.