Proletarian Democracy
Encyclopedia
Proletarian Democracy was a political party
in Italy
.
DP took part in the 1976 elections, winning 556,022 votes (1.51%) and 6 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. On April 13, 1978, DP was transformed into a political party. The move to make DP into a real political party was pushed through by the minority wing of PdUP, led by journalist
Vittorio Foa
and Silvano Miniati; the majority of AO, led by Massimo Gorla and Luigi Vinci; and the League of the Communists, led by Romano Luporini.
The main figure of DP was the charismatic Mario Capanna
, a former student leader associated with the 1968 new left
movement.
The strongholds of DP were the industrial cities of Northern Italy
, which had strong leftist traditions. DP was opposed to the so-called 'historic compromise
' between the Italian Communist Party
and the Christian Democrats
.
During the 1978 electoral campaign, Peppino Impastato
, a leading DP militant from Sicily
, was murdered by the mafia
.
In the 1979 elections for the European Parliament, DP won 1 seat.
DP won 542,039 votes (1.47%) and 7 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the Italian general election, 1987
DP won 642,161 votes (1.66%) and 8 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the same year DP won 493,667 votes (1.52%) and one seat in the election to the Senate.
In 1987 Capanna stepped down, and Giovanni Russo Spena became the secretary of DP. Two years later, the DP suffered a split, as a section led by Capanna launched their own list on ahead of the elections to the European Parliament
, called Rainbow Greens
.
decided to merge the party into the Communist Refoundation Movement, which became the Communist Refoundation Party
.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
1970s
DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of the Proletarian Unity Party (PdUP), Workers Vanguard (AO) and the Workers Movement for Socialism (MLS). At the local level, smaller groups joined, such as the Marxist-Leninist Communist Organization, Revolutionary Communist Groups - IV International and the League of the Communists.DP took part in the 1976 elections, winning 556,022 votes (1.51%) and 6 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. On April 13, 1978, DP was transformed into a political party. The move to make DP into a real political party was pushed through by the minority wing of PdUP, led by journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Vittorio Foa
Vittorio Foa
Vittorio Foa was an Italian politician, trade unionist, journalist and writer.-Biography:Foa was born in Turin in 1910 into a middle-class Jewish family....
and Silvano Miniati; the majority of AO, led by Massimo Gorla and Luigi Vinci; and the League of the Communists, led by Romano Luporini.
The main figure of DP was the charismatic Mario Capanna
Mario Capanna
Mario Capanna is an Italian politician and writer.-Biography:Born in Città di Castello, he studied Philosophy at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, and was the leader of the Italian students' movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, a former student leader associated with the 1968 new left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
movement.
The strongholds of DP were the industrial cities of Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
, which had strong leftist traditions. DP was opposed to the so-called 'historic compromise
Historic Compromise
In Italian history, the Historic Compromise was an accommodation between the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party in the 1970s, after the latter embraced eurocommunism under Enrico Berlinguer. The 1978 assassination of DC leader Aldo Moro put an end to the Compromesso storico...
' between the Italian Communist Party
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 the 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 ....
.
During the 1978 electoral campaign, Peppino Impastato
Giuseppe Impastato
Giuseppe Impastato, also known as Peppino , was a political activist who opposed the Mafia that ordered his murder in 1978.-Childhood:...
, a leading DP militant from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, was murdered by the mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
.
In the 1979 elections for the European Parliament, DP won 1 seat.
1980s
In the Italian general election, 1983Italian general election, 1983
The Italian election of 1983 was held on June 26. The ninth Parliament of republican Italy was selected.The Pentaparty formula, the governative alliance between five centrist parties, caused unexpected problems to the Christian Democracy. The alliance was fixed and universal, extended both to the...
DP won 542,039 votes (1.47%) and 7 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the Italian general election, 1987
Italian general election, 1987
The Italian election of 1987 was held on June 14. Italian citizens chose the tenth Parliament of the Italian Republic.This election marked the final inversion of the trend of the entire republican history of Italy: for the first time, the distance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists...
DP won 642,161 votes (1.66%) and 8 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the same year DP won 493,667 votes (1.52%) and one seat in the election to the Senate.
In 1987 Capanna stepped down, and Giovanni Russo Spena became the secretary of DP. Two years later, the DP suffered a split, as a section led by Capanna launched their own list on ahead of the elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, called Rainbow Greens
Rainbow Greens
Rainbow Greens was a green Italian political party.It was founded in 1989 by splinters of Proletarian Democracy and some leading Radicals .It took part in the 1989 European Parliament elections,...
.
1990s
On June 9, 1991 the congress of DP in RiccioneRiccione
Riccione is a comune in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. As of 2007 Riccione had an estimated population of 34,868.-History:...
decided to merge the party into the Communist Refoundation Movement, which became the Communist Refoundation Party
Communist Refoundation Party
The Communist Refoundation Party is a communist Italian political party. Its current secretary is Paolo Ferrero....
.