Liberalism and radicalism in Italy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Background

The formation of political groups in the 19th century in divided Italy is based on personalities, like Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...

. Both the Historical Right (Destra Storica) and the Historical Left (Sinistra Storica) were composed of monarchist

Monarchism

Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...

liberals, while radicals organised themselves as the Radical Party

Radical Party (Italy, 1877)

The Radical Party was a radical political party in Italy.It was founded in 1877 by Agostino Bertani and Felice Cavallotti as a radical-liberal party of what was then considered the "far left", from the name of the parliamentary group the Radicals formed with Andrea Costa, the first Socialist...

and republicans as the Italian Republican Party

Italian Republican Party

The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

. Only in the Twenties of the 20th century, the Liberals around Giovanni Giolitti

Giovanni Giolitti

Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...

formed their party, the precursor of the Italian Liberal Party

Italian Liberal Party

The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...

. After the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

both Liberals and Republicans reorganised themselves, followed by more liberal parties in the upcoming decades.

Liberalism was strongly divided after the shake up of Italian politics, following the Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...

scandal and the subsequent Mani Pulite
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...

. Nowadays a broad group of parties, not all included, tend to use the label liberal. Liberals are now divided over the centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

(the Silvio Berlusconi-led successor of Forza Italia

Forza Italia

Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

, itself primarily a merger of liberal and Christian-democratic forces) and the centre-left

Centre-left

Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...

Democratic Party

Democratic Party (Italy)

The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....

(a merger of social democrats, progressive Christian democrats and social-liberals). Then there are some minor liberal parties: the formerly centre-left - nowadays centre-right - Italian Republican Party

Italian Republican Party

(former ELDR

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...

member) and the Italian Radicals

Italian Radicals

Italian Radicals is an Italian political party which describes itself as a liberale, liberista e libertario political movement .It was...

(ELDR

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party

and Liberal International

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

).

Also the populist-centrist Italy of Values

Italy of Values

Italy of Values is a centrist, populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , is headed by former Mani pulite prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996.The party aims to gather and give...

is a member of ELDR

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party

, although it is very difficult to classify it as a liberal party in whichever sense.

Most members of the late Italian Liberal Party

Italian Liberal Party

(refounded as a very small party in 2004, see Italian Liberal Party (2004)) and many former Republicans

Italian Republican Party

joined Forza Italia, which was often presented and defined in Italy as a liberal party, and the other parties of the House of Freedoms

House of Freedoms

The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

coalition. This is the reason why the term 'liberals' is more often used when speaking of the centre-right, now dominated by Forza Italia successor party The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom

The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

, which combines economic liberalism

Economic liberalism

Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...

with freedom of conscience on ethical matters.

Radical Party (1877)

1877: Progressive liberals left the Historical Left (Sinistra Storica) and formed the Radical Party
Radical Party (Italy, 1877)
The Radical Party was a radical political party in Italy.It was founded in 1877 by Agostino Bertani and Felice Cavallotti as a radical-liberal party of what was then considered the "far left", from the name of the parliamentary group the Radicals formed with Andrea Costa, the first Socialist...

(Partito Radicale)
1926: The party was banned but many members remained politically active

Italian Republican Party

1895: The Mazzinisti organised themselves into the Italian Republican Party
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

(Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI)
1926-1943: The PRI was banned, but continued its activities in exile
1946: A faction of the Action Party, the Republican Democratic Party (Movimento Democratico Repubblicano), joined the party, followed by other members of the PdA
2001: The party joined the centre-right House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

coalition of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
2003: A progressive liberal faction formed the European Republicans Movement (Movimento Repubblicani Europei)
2011: The European Republicans Movement re-merged with the PRI.

Italian Liberal Party

1848: Cammillo Benso di Cavour formes a parliamentarty group in the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

Parliament named "Italian Liberal Party" (Partito Liberale Italiano)
1922: Conservative liberals, remnants of the Historical Right (Destra Storica), by then called Liberal-Conservatives (Liberal-Conservatori), and members of Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...

's Liberal Left (Sinistra Liberale), which until then acted only as parliamentary factions nor as organised parties, formed the Italian Liberal Party
Italian Liberal Party
The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...

(Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI)
1926: The party was banned
1943: Renmants of the old liberal current organised themselves in the conservative-liberal Italian Liberal Party
Italian Liberal Party
The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...

(Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI)
1994: After the collapse of the party system, the left-wing of the party formed the Federation of Italian Liberals
Federation of Italian Liberals
The Federation of Italian Liberals is a tiny liberal party in Italy, founded in 1994 by Raffaello Morelli and Valerio Zanone...

(Federazione dei Liberali Italiani, FdL), the centre-right the Union of Centre (Unione di Centro, UdC) and the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Italy)
The Liberal Party was a minor liberal political party in Italy.It was founded in 1994 by former members of the Italian Liberal Party who wanted to join the centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi. Most of its leading figures were also members of Forza Italia: Stefano De Luca, Carlo...

(Partito Liberale, PL), the right-wing the Italian Liberal Right
Italian Liberal Right
The Italian Liberal Right , previously known as Liberals for Italy was a tiny conservative-liberal Italian political party.-History:...

(Destra Liberale Italiana, DLI), which elected some candidates on the electoral list of the National Alliance
National Alliance (Italy)
National Alliance was a conservative political party in Italy.Gianfranco Fini was the leader of the party since its foundation in 1995, however he stepped down in 2008 after being elected to the nominally non-partisan post of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was succeeded by...

, while many other centrist members joined Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
1996: FdL joined the Democratic Union
Democratic Union (Italy)
The Democratic Union was a small social-liberal party in Italy.It was founded in 1996 by Antonio Maccanico , Willer Bordon and Giorgio Benvenuto, both members of Democratic Alliance...
1998: UdC merged into Forza Italia
1999: FdL formed an electoral alliance with the Italian Republican Party
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...
2004: Splinters from FdL formed the Association for Liberal Democracy (Associazione per la Democrazia Liberale), which joined Democracy is Freedom, whilst the Liberal Party and the Italian Liberal Right (now called Liberals for Italy, Liberali per l'Italia) re-established the Italian Liberal Party (2004) (Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI)
2007: the PLI formed an alliance with the Italian Republican Party

National Union

1924: Anti-fascist liberals formed the National Union (Unione Nazionale)
1926: The party was banned

Action Party

1942: Liberal and social-democratic elements of the anti-fascist resistance formed the Action Party (Partito d'Azione)
1946: The liberal wing of the party formed the Republican Democratic Movement and joined, followed by others, the Italian Republican Party
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

; the party thus disappeared

From Radical Party (1955) to Italian Radicals

1955: A progressive liberal faction of the Italian Liberal Party
Italian Liberal Party
The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...

formed the Radical Party (Partito Radicale)
1988: The party was transformed in Transnational Radical Party
Transnational Radical Party
The Transnational Radical Party is a political association of citizens, parliamentarians and members of government of various national and political backgrounds who intend to use nonviolent means to create an effective body of international law with respect for individuals and the...
1992: The party was re-organised at the Italian-level as Pannella List
Pannella List
Pannella List was a strongly libertarian Radical electoral list active in the 1990s in Italy. Its long-standing leader and standard-bearer was Marco Pannella, who had been the historical leader of the Radical Party from 1963 to 1989....

(Lista Pannella)
1999: The party decided to use the label Bonino List
Bonino List
Bonino List was a strongly libertarian Radical electoral list active in the 1990s and the 2000s in Italy. Named for Emma Bonino, a leading Radical who had been member of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999 , after the unsuccessful "Emma for President" campaign, it was the successor of the...

(Lista Bonino)
2001: After a new re-organisation the party named itself the Italian Radicals
Italian Radicals
Italian Radicals is an Italian political party which describes itself as a liberale, liberista e libertario political movement .It was...

(Radicali Italiani)
2005: The Italian Radicals joined Italian Democratic Socialists
Italian Democratic Socialists
The Italian Democratic Socialists were a small social-democratic political party in Italy. Led by Enrico Boselli, the party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Socialist Party...

and founded the Rose in the Fist
Rose in the Fist
The Rose in the Fist was a coalition of parties in Italy.The RnP was composed of the social-democratic Italian Democratic Socialists , the libertarian Italian Radicals and some independent members gathered in the Association for the Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist was a coalition of...

electoral coalition. A faction left and formed the free-market movement, Liberal Reformers
Liberal Reformers
Liberal Reformers was a minor libertarian political party in Italy led by Benedetto Della Vedova, a former President of the Italian Radicals.-History:...

(Riformatori Liberali), which became a small faction within Forza Italia and later The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

.

From Democratic Alliance to Democratic Party

1993: The new social-liberal Democratic Alliance
Democratic Alliance (Italy)
The Democratic Alliance was an Italian political party founded in 1993, with the intent of becoming the container of an alliance of centre-left forces. However, the project did not succeed, and it presented itself as a minor party, mainly composed of former Republicans and former Communists...

(Alleanza Democratica) was formed by the Republicans
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

(which left in early 1994), ex-Socialists
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...

, ex-Communists
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

and ex-Christian Democrats
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
1996: The new social-liberal Democratic Union
Democratic Union (Italy)
The Democratic Union was a small social-liberal party in Italy.It was founded in 1996 by Antonio Maccanico , Willer Bordon and Giorgio Benvenuto, both members of Democratic Alliance...

(Unione Democratica) and the centrist Italian Renewal
Italian Renewal
The Italian Renewal was a liberal-centrist political party in Italy.It was founded in 1996 by Lamberto Dini along with some former Liberals, Socialists, Christian Democrats, Republicans and Social Democrats...

(Rinnovamento Italiano) were launched, and members of Democratic Alliance joined the first
1999: The new social-liberal The Democrats (I Democratici) were formed by the merger of Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...

's supporters (some form the Italian People's Party) with the Democratic Union
2002: The Democrats joined Italian Renewal and the Christian-democratic Italian People's Party to form Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (Democrazia è Libertà - La Margherita), a combination of centrists, liberals, and Christian democrats.
2007: Former Prime Minister Lamberto Dini breaks from The Daisy and forms the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats (Italy)
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal-centrist political party in Italy.Its long-time leader was Senator Lamberto Dini, former Minister of the Treasury, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.-History:...

, a minor party. Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy joined the social-democratic Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...

to form the Democratic Party)
Democratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....

.
2009: Former members of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy led by Francesco Rutelli break away from the Democratic Party to form the Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy
Alliance for Italy is a centrist political party in Italy.The party, which is described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic left, an experience with high and memorable value, yet by now run out", was launched on 11...

.

Forza Italia

1993: Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

was founded by the political initiative of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

. Most of the PLI members joined Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

alongside many ex-Christian Democrats. Though some members of the party initially joined ELDR, the party as a whole joined the Christian-democratic European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

in 1999. The party was considered by many as a liberal and Christian-democratic party, and was a staunch supporter of free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

.
1998: The Union of Centre merged into Forza Italia
2003: Liberals within Forza Italia formed Popular Liberalism
Popular Liberalism
Popular Liberalism , recently known also as Liberal Union of the Centre , is a liberal faction within The People of Freedom, a political party in Italy....

(Liberalismo Popolare), a liberal faction
2006: Liberal Reformers
Liberal Reformers
Liberal Reformers was a minor libertarian political party in Italy led by Benedetto Della Vedova, a former President of the Italian Radicals.-History:...

elect one deputy in Forza Italia's list
2007: Silvio Berlusconi announces the creation of The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....

, a party merging Forza Italia with the National Alliance and other parties in the House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...

coalition.
2009: Forza Italia is finally merged into The People of Freedom.

Liberal leaders

Before 1861: Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni was an Italian poet and novelist.He is famous for the novel The Betrothed , generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature...

, Carlo Cattaneo
Carlo Cattaneo
Carlo Cattaneo was an Italian philosopher, writer and patriot.-Biography:Cattaneo was born in Milan; he died in Castagnola, close to Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, where he had spent the last twenty years of his life in exile.A republican in his convictions, during his youth he had taken...
Historical Right / Liberal-Conservatives: Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Sidney Sonnino
Sidney Sonnino
Baron Sidney Costantino Sonnino was an Italian politician.Sonnino was born in Pisa to an Italian father of Jewish heritage and a Welsh mother...
Historical Left / Democrats: Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi was a 19th-century Italian politician of Arbëreshë ancestry. He was instrumental in the unification of Italy and was its 17th and 20th Prime Minister from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896.-Sicily:Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural...

, Agostino Depretis
Agostino Depretis
Agostino Depretis was an Italian statesman.-Biography:Depretis was born at Mezzana Corte, near Stradella, in the province of Pavia ....
Radical Party (1877): Felice Cavallotti
Felice Cavallotti
Felice Cavallotti was an Italian politician, poet and dramatic author.- Early career :Born in Milan, Cavallotti fought with the Garibaldian Corps in their 1860 and 1866 campaigns during the Italian Wars of Independence....

, Ernesto Nathan
Ernesto Nathan
Ernesto Nathan was an English-Italian Jewish politician, and mayor of Rome, Italy from November 1907 to December 1913.-Biography:...

, Francesco Saverio Nitti
Francesco Saverio Nitti
Francesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paola Nitti was an Italian economist and political figure. A Radical, he served as the 36th Prime Minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920....
National Union: Giovanni Amendola
Giovanni Amendola
Giovanni Amendola was an Italian journalist and politician, noted as an opponent of Fascism....
Liberals / Italian Liberal Party: Giuseppe Zanardelli
Giuseppe Zanardelli
Giuseppe Zanardelli was an Italian jurisconsult, nationalist and political figure. He was the 24th Prime Minister of Italy from February 15, 1901 to November 3, 1903.-Biography:...

, Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...

, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando was an Italian diplomat and political figure. He was born in Palermo, Sicily. His father, a landed gentleman, delayed venturing out to register his son's birth for fear of Giuseppe Garibaldi's 1,000 patriots who had just stormed into Sicily on the first leg of their march...

, Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasionally also politician. He wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, methodology of history writing and aesthetics, and was a prominent liberal, although he opposed laissez-faire free trade...

, Luigi Einaudi
Luigi Einaudi
Luigi Einaudi , Cavaliere di Gran Croce decorato di Gran Cordone OMRI was an Italian politician and economist. He served as the second President of the Italian Republic between 1948 and 1955.-Early life:...

, Bruno Villabruna
Bruno Villabruna
Bruno Villabruna was an Italian lawyer and liberal politician.Born in Santa Giustina, near Belluno in the Veneto, he was first elected to parliament in 1921...

, Manlio Brosio
Manlio Brosio
Manlio Giovanni Brosio was an Italian lawyer, diplomat, politician and the fourth Secretary General of NATO between 1964 and 1971.-Biography:...

, Leone Cattani, Gaetano Martino
Gaetano Martino
Gaetano Martino was an Italian politician and university teacher.A native of Messina, Sicily, he was a member of Italian Liberal Party. Gaetano Martino was one of the participants of the Messina Conference in 1955, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957...

, Agostino Bignardi, Bruno Leoni
Bruno Leoni
Bruno Leoni was an Italian classical-liberal political philosopher and lawyer.Besides being editor for the political science journal Il Politico, Leoni was also involved as secretary and later president of the Mont Pelerin Society...

, Giovanni Malagodi
Italian Republican Party: Ugo La Malfa
Ugo La Malfa
Ugo La Malfa was an Italian politician, and an important leader in the Italian Republican Party, of which his son, Giorgio La Malfa, is now president.- Early years and anti-Fascist resistance :...

, Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini was a liberal Italian politician, the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, newspaper editor, journalist and a noted historian.-Biography:Spadolini was born in Florence....

, Giorgio La Malfa
Giorgio La Malfa
Giorgio La Malfa is an Italian politician.-Biography:La Malfa was born in Milan, the son of Ugo La Malfa, a long-time Italian political leader and minister....
Radical Party (1955) / Italian Radicals: Marco Pannella
Marco Pannella
Giacinto Pannella, better known as Marco Pannella is an Italian politician.He is the historic leader of the Italian Radicals...

, Emma Bonino
Emma Bonino
Emma Bonino is an Italian politician, former Member of the European Parliament and current Member of the Italian Senate. She is a leading member of the Italian Radicals, a political party that supports economic and social libertarianism, and human rights...
Forza Italia: Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

, Alfredo Biondi
Alfredo Biondi
Alfredo Biondi is an Italian politician and lawyer. In 1994 he served as Minister of Justice of the Italian Republic during the first cabinet chaired by Silvio Berlusconi.-Biography:...

(ex-PLI), Raffaele Costa
Raffaele Costa
Raffaele Costa is an Italian politician. He has been President of the Province of Cuneo...

(ex-PLI), Antonio Martino
Antonio Martino
Antonio Martino is an Italian politician, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and Italian Minister of Defense from 2001 to 2006. He is a founding member of Forza Italia, holding party card no. 2.-Career:...

(ex-PLI), Marcello Pera
Marcello Pera
Marcello Pera is an Italian philosopher and politician. He was the President of the Italian Senate from 2001 to 2006.-Career:...

(ex-PSI
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...

, ex-Rad), Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti
Giulio Tremonti is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2011....

(ex-PSI), Renato Brunetta
Renato Brunetta
Renato Brunetta is an Italian economist and politician and, as of May 2008, a minister in the Berlusconi government.He is a former member of the Italian Socialist Party, Member of the European Parliament for the North-East from 2004 to 2009 with the Forza Italia, part of the European People's...

(ex-PSI), Benedetto Della Vedova
Benedetto Della Vedova
Benedetto Della Vedova is an Italian politician, formerly the leader of Liberal Reformers, a minor liberal and libertarian party, and currently member of The Liberal Part, a liberal faction within the centre-right People of Freedom party.-Biography:His political experience began in 1994 with the...

(ex-Rad), Daniele Capezzone
Daniele Capezzone
Daniele Capezzone is a centre-right Italian politician.He currently is the spokesman for the People of Freedom.From July 14, 2001 to November 4, 2006, he was secretary of the Italian Radicals, a liberal, pro-market economy, libertarian movement associated with the Transnational Radical Party...

(ex-Rad)
Democratic Party: Antonio Maccanico (ex-PRI), Valerio Zanone
Valerio Zanone
Valerio Zanone is an Italian politician, who was secretary and president of the Italian Liberal Party. He was also a senator of the Democratic Party.-Biography:Zanone was born in Turin....

(ex-PLI), Francesco Rutelli (ex-Rad, ex-Green
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...

), Enzo Bianco
Enzo Bianco
Enzo Bianco is an Italian politician and a member of Daisy-Democracy is Freedom. He was Minister of the Interior and Mayor of Catania.-External links:* at Italian Senate, XIII Legislature...

(ex-PRI), Paolo Gentiloni
Paolo Gentiloni
Paolo Gentiloni is an Italian politician, member of the Daisy—Democracy is Freedom party and currently the Italian Minister of Communications.-Biography:He is a professional journalist and has a degree in political sciences....

(ex-Green), Gianni Vernetti
Gianni Vernetti
-Early life:Vernetti was born in Torino, Italy. In 1985 he obtained a degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Torino. In 1987 he was awarded a PhD in Urban Ecology from the Politecnico di Milano university.-Career:...

(ex-Green), Linda Lanzillotta (ex-PSI), Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli (ex-PLI)

Liberal thinkers

In the Contributions to liberal theory

Contributions to liberal theory

Individual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with philosophers of the Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy...

the following Italian thinkers are included:

Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...

(1469–1527)
Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasionally also politician. He wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, methodology of history writing and aesthetics, and was a prominent liberal, although he opposed laissez-faire free trade...

(1866–1952)

Background

Radical Party (1877)

Italian Republican Party

Italian Liberal Party

National Union

Action Party

From Radical Party (1955) to Italian Radicals

From Democratic Alliance to Democratic Party

Forza Italia

Liberal leaders

Liberal thinkers

See also