Democracy and Socialism (''Democrazia e Socialismo'') was a

social-democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

political association 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 years it was a faction within the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of t ...

, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and finally the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Its leader was

Gavino Angius Gavino Angius (born 18 November 1946) is an Italian politician. Biography Born at Sassari (Sardinia), after the degree in Political Sciences, he became a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), for which he was secretary of his city's sect ...

History

Originally named Socialists and Europeans (''Socialisti ed Europei''), the group was formed in 2006 as a faction within the

(DS) by

and

Giuseppe Caldarola Giuseppe Caldarola (9 April 1946 – 21 September 2020) was an Italian journalist and politician who served as a Deputy. Caldarola was born in Bari. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2001 Italian general election The 2001 Italian ...

in opposition to the creation of the

(PD), which they believed would have been a rejection of the principles of

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to prom ...

and democratic socialism. Angius and his group wanted to remain members of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic and Progressivism, progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus ...

, as they had been since its foundation in 1992. After the DS decided to merge into the PD in April 2007, some members ( Mauro Zani, Massimo Brutti, Sergio Gentili, Giuseppe Caldarola and others) joined it, while Gavino Angius, Alberto Nigra,

Franco Grillini Franco Grillini (born 14 March 1955) is an Italian politician and a prominent Italian gay-rights activist. Career He was born in Pianoro, Province of Bologna. During the 1970s, he took part in student political movements. He attended the Univer ...

and others (comprising two senators and two deputies) formed, along with other splinter groups of the DS, the Democratic Left (SD). Soon Angius and his followers felt that the new party, led by

Fabio Mussi Fabio Mussi (born 22 January 1948) is an Italian politician, formerly Minister of University and Research in the Prodi II Cabinet. A former member of the Italian Communist Party and then Democrats of the Left, he became a lead founding member ...

, was moving too far to the left toward a close alliance with the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replace ...

, the

Party of Italian Communists The Party of Italian Communists ( it, Partito dei Comunisti Italiani, PdCI) was a communist party in Italy established in October 1998 by splinters from the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC). The split was led by Armando Cossutta, founder and ...

and the

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. T ...

instead of forming an alliance with the much more moderate

Italian Democratic Socialists The Italian Democratic Socialists ( it, Socialisti Democratici Italiani, SDI) were a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Socia ...

. In September 2007 the group around Angius finally broke apart from SD and joined the Italian Democratic Socialists, the

New Italian Socialist Party The New Italian Socialist Party or New PSI ( it, Nuovo Partito Socialista Italiano or ''Nuovo PSI'', NPSI), more recently styled as Liberal Socialists – NPSI, is a political party in Italy which professes a social-democratic ideology and claims t ...

Mauro Del Bue Mauro Del Bue (born 23 April 1951 in Reggio Emilia), is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Graduated in literature and philosophy, Mauro Del Bue is journalist by profession. He was secretary of the Italian Socialist Youth Federa ...

and

Gianni De Michelis Gianni De Michelis (26 November 1940 – 11 May 2019) was an Italian politician, prominent member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), who served as minister in many Italian governments in the 1980s and early 1990s. Biography De Michelis was ...

The Italian Socialists The Italian Socialists (''I Socialisti Italiani'') was a minor social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. History The party was founded on 7 February 2006 as the result of a split from the N ...

, the Association for the Rose in the Fist,

Socialism is Freedom 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 eco ...

, and other groups and associations to form the

(PS). Since then, it took the current name and was joined by

Valdo Spini Valdo Spini (born 20 January 1946 in Florence) is an Italian politician and author. A long-time member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), in 1994 he founded the Labour Federation (Italy), Labour Federation (FL), of which he was leader until ...

, another SD dissident. In 2007–2008 the group had two senators (Gavino Angius and Accursio Montalbano) and three deputies (Valdo Spini, Franco Grillini and Fabio Baratella). After the huge defeat of the PS in the 2008 general election, the group around Angius supported the candidacy for party secretary of

Riccardo Nencini Riccardo Nencini (born 19 October 1959) is an Italian politician. Nencini was born at Barberino di Mugello, in the province of Florence. He is the nephew of professional cyclist Gastone Nencini, winner of the 1960 Tour de France. A long-time m ...

, who won. In September 2008, Angius declared that "the Socialist constituent assembly has failed" and that the party should take part with the Democratic Party and possibly into it to the construction of a "new reformist centre-left", in line with what Nencini himself is proposing. However, in October 2008 Angius and his group abandoned the PS in order to join the Democratic Party, proposing that the whole party should follow him. Angius was joined also by

Cinzia Dato Cinzia may refer to: *Cinzia De Carolis (born 1960), Italian actress and voice actress *Cinzia Casiraghi, Professor in Nanoscience, University of Manchester, UK and National Graphene Institute in the UK *Cinzia Cavazzuti (born 1973), Italian forme ...

, a former

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

from

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties withi ...

(DL), while Spini decided not to leave the PS. In the 2009 Democratic Party leadership election the faction supported

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 t ...

Leadership

*Coordinator:

(2006–2007), Alberto Nigra (since 2007)

References

External links

Official websiteFormer official website
{{Democratic Party factions 2006 establishments in Italy Defunct social democratic parties in Italy Democratic Party (Italy) factions