The Democratic Alliance ( it, Alleanza Democratica, AD) was a social-liberal

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. AD was founded in 1993 with the intent of becoming the container of an alliance of

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

forces, the project did not succeed, thus AD acted as a minor social-liberal party, proposing

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

, criticism of the Italian left's

statism In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production. While in use s ...

, and a shake-up of the political system. AD members were mainly former Republicans and former

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...

, while its founder and leader,

Willer Bordon Willer Bordon (16 January 1949 – 14 July 2015) was an Italian academic, businessman and politician who served in different cabinet posts at the end of the 1990s and 2000s. Early life Bordon was born in Muggia, Province of Trieste, on 16 Janu ...

, was a former member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) 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 (PSI) ...

and the Democratic Party of the Left. The party ran in the 1994 general election within the

Alliance of Progressives The Alliance of Progressives ( it, Alleanza dei Progressisti) was a left-wing political alliance of parties in Italy formed in 1994, with relevant predecessors at local level in 1993. The leader of the alliance was Achille Occhetto. The allianc ...

and obtained a mere 1.2% of the vote, due to the uneasy alliance with the traditional left and the competition by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, 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 The Segni Pact ( it, Patto Segni), officially called Pact of National Rebirth (''Patto di Rinascita Nazionale''), was a Christian-democratic, centrist and liberal political party in Italy. The party was founded and named after Mario Segni, a form ...

and the

Italian Socialists The Italian Socialists ( it, Socialisti Italiani, SI) were a minor social-democratic political party in Italy active from 1994 to 1998. The party was the legal successor of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), following its dissolution by the 47th ...

. Most AD members continued to be part of the centre-left coalition, with the notable exceptions of

Ferdinando Adornato Ferdinando Adornato (born 11 May 1954) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography On 8 June 1994, he founded and led the group ''Area'', "an area of programmatic comparison ... inspired liberal, Christian and environmentalist ... elemen ...

and

Giulio Tremonti Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) 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 20 ...

, who would eventually join Forza Italia. In the 1996 general election AD was a minor member of The Olive Tree, and evolved into the Democratic Union (UD) with the entry of other Republicans such as

Antonio Maccanico Antonio Maccanico (4 August 1924 – 23 April 2013) was an Italian constitutional specialist and social liberal politician, who served in various capacities in the parliament and federal administrations of Italy. Early life and education Maccani ...

, 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

{{Historical Italian political parties, state=collapsed Defunct liberal political parties 1993 establishments in Italy 1997 disestablishments in Italy Political parties established in 1993 Political parties disestablished in 1996 Defunct political parties in Italy Liberal parties in Italy