The Dissident Left ( it, Sinistra dissidente), commonly named The Pentarchy ( it, La Pentarchia) for its five leaders, was a
progressive and
radical parliamentary group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council.
Parliamenta ...
active in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
during the last decades of the 19th century.
History
It emerged in 1880 from the
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
of the two dominant parliamentary groups, the
Historical Left, in opposition to the ''
trasformismo
''Trasformismo'' is the method of making a flexible centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the political left and the political right in Italian politics after the Italian unification and before the rise of Benito Mussoli ...
'' of
Agostino Depretis. In the
1880 general election, the party won 19.7% of the vote and 119 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies.
[ Dieter Nohlen; Philip Stöver (2010). ''Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook''. p. 1047. .]
The Pentarchy was a group formed led by
Francesco Crispi and composed also by
Giuseppe Zanardelli
Giuseppe Zanardelli (29 October 1826 26 December 1903) was an Italian jurist and political figure. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 15 February 1901 to 3 November 1903. An eloquent orator, he was also a Grand Master freemason. Zan ...
,
Benedetto Cairoli,
Giovanni Nicotera,
Agostino Magliani,
Alfredo Beccarini
Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name.
People with the given name include:
*Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...
and
Gabriele D'Annunzio. Initially split from the Left in 1880, this group re-merged in to the Left in 1887.
Ideology
The Dissident Left supported
statist
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 since ...
and
progressive internal policies,
expansionism and
Germanophile
A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German citizen. The love of the ''Ge ...
foreign policies, as well as
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
economy policies. Most of these policies were to be implemented by
Francesco Crispi when he became
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
in the 1890s.
[Simone Oldani]
"La politica di Crispi"
.
Electoral results
References
{{19th century Italian political groups
Liberal parties in Italy
Social liberal parties
Political parties established in 1880
1880 establishments in Italy
Political parties disestablished in 1887
1887 disestablishments in Italy