Liberal Reformers (, RL) was a minor liberal,

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

and liberist

political party in Italy This is a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy. Since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern alone; thus, partie ...

led by

Benedetto Della Vedova Benedetto Della Vedova (Sondrio, 3 April 1962) is an Italian politician. A keen pro-Europeanist, Della Vedova is currently president of Forza Europa (FE) and has been secretary of More Europe (+EU), the latter comprising FE and the Italian Rad ...

, a former President of the

Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals (, RI) are a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. The party draws inspiration form 19th-century classical radicalism and the Radical Party. The RI are a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Eur ...

History

RL was founded in 2005 by a split from the

of those radicals that were opposed to the formation of the

Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist (, RnP) was a political alliance of parties in Italy. The RnP was composed of the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI; a social-democratic party led by Enrico Boselli and Roberto Villetti), the Italian Radicals (RI; a lib ...

alliance together with the

Italian Democratic Socialists The Italian Democratic Socialists (, SDI) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The party was the direct continuation of the Italian Socialists, the legal successor of the historical Italian Socialist Party. The Italian Democrati ...

, as a component of the wider centre-left The Union, and instead supported an alliance with the centre-right

House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms (, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/ Pole of Good Government and the Pole for Freedoms. The former ...

. The party united former Radicals, as many former members of the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...

and of

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

. After 2006 general election (in which Della Vedova was elected MP on Forza Italia's list), the explicit aim of the grouping is to unite the

Italian centre-right The centre-right coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed the party. It has mostly competed with the centre-left coal ...

into a single party and to strengthen liberal and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

positions in it. Liberal Reformers acted both as a faction of Forza Italia both as a unifying agent of centre-right liberals. In October 2006, Liberal Reformers launched a manifesto called "Give a libertarian soul to the centre-right" together with famous journalists ( Vittorio Feltri, Arturo Diaconale, Filippo Facci and Giordano Bruno Guerri), academics and politicians from both Forza Italia and

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

. On 1 November Della Vedova called on the Italian Radicals to join the centre-right in the next general election. Some days earlier, Della Vedova had wished that he,

Marco Pannella Marco Pannella (born Giacinto Pannella; 2 May 1930 – 19 May 2016) was an Italian politician, journalist and activist. He was well known in his country for his nonviolence and civil rights' campaigns, like the 1974 Italian divorce referendum, ...

Emma Bonino Emma Bonino (born 9 March 1948) is an Italian politician. She was a senator for Rome between 2008 and 2013, and again between 2018 and 2022. She also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2014. Previously, she was a Member of the Eu ...

and

Daniele Capezzone Daniele Capezzone (born 8 September 1972) is an Italian journalist and former politician. From 14 July 2001 to 4 November 2006, he was secretary of the Italian Radicals, a Liberalism, liberal, pro-market economy, Libertarianism, libertarian pol ...

will found themselves together again in the centre-right. On 7 November, when Capezzone finally left the Radicals and the centre-left, Della Vedova opened the doors of Forza Italia and the centre-right for him. In the 2008 general election RL were part of the list of

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

(PdL) and had two deputies elected: Benedetto Della Vedova and Giuseppe Calderisi. Soon after the election, Daniele Capezzone, who had previously joined the centre-right, was appointed by Berlusconi as spokesman of Forza Italia. In 2009 the party was merged into the PdL and its members, led by Della Vedova, formed a new association named ''

Libertiamo Libertiamo is a libertarian association chaired by Benedetto Della Vedova. The group is the continuation of the Liberal Reformers (RL), an associate party of Forza Italia, formed in 2007 by Benedetto Della Vedova, a former President of the Italia ...

''. The party was merged in 2009 into The People of Freedom. Within the new party Della Vedova distanced from his mentor

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

and got very close to

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is a retired Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian ...

and

Generation Italy Generation Italy (''Generazione Italia'', GI) or ''Finiani'' was an association connected to Future and Freedom (FLI), a political party in Italy, and earlier to The People of Freedom (PdL). Although most of its members came from the conservative N ...

instead. In July 2010, Della Vedova left the PdL to become a member of Fini's new party

Future and Freedom Future and Freedom (), whose full name was Future and Freedom for Italy (''Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia'', abbreviated to FLI), was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, comprising both liberal conservatism, liberal an ...

Ideology

Liberal Reformers had a

platform, including a strong support for

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

, lower taxes, and competition in the health care and education systems. They also proposed an American-styled reform of Italian political system (their slogan was "America, Market, Individual"), including

presidentialism A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled "president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and legi ...

, competitive

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

, and a

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

plurality voting system Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...

. Despite being a small party, the RI were also keen supporters of a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

. In

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

they were staunchly pro-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and very supportive of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

all over the world. Internationally Liberal Reformers, along with the Italian Radicals, were members of the

Transnational Radical Party The Transnational Radical Party (TRP), whose official name is Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), is a political association of citizens, members of parliament and members of government of various national and politic ...

, a

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

working at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

level. The party had a

socially progressive Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...

stance on abortion and

stem cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

, despite not stressing too much the point. The party supported also

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s for

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

couples, but, differently from other liberal parties, opposed civil unions for opposite-sex couples and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Della Vedova explained this position by arguing that there is no need of regulation for free cohabitation of opposite-sex couples and, instead, he proposed swift procedures for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, which are very lengthy in Italy. Liberal Reformers were very keen on the return of Italy to the use of

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

(which was prohibited by a referendum proposed by the Radical Party in 1987) and were also the party of the centre-right to be more involved in

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...

, by contesting the hegemony of

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

on these issues, and proposed a new liberal-green parth for the centre-right. Explicitly inspired by the "Vote blue, go green" campaign of the

British Conservative Party The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...

led by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, they launched their own campaign on the subject, named "+ Blue, + Green. A competition of ideas. A liberal policy on the environment for the program of the centre-right".http://www.riformatoriliberali.it/Multimedia/Annuncio_libero_go_green.pdf
/ref>

Leadership

* President:

(2005–2009) * Spokesman:

Marco Taradash Marco Taradash (born 19 May 1950) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Marco Taradash was born in Livorno on 19 May 1950 from a Tuscan mother and a New Yorker father, who came to Italy with the allied army. The surname has a Ukrain ...

(2005–2009) * Coordinator: Giuseppe Calderisi (2005–2009) * Secretary: Carmelo Palma (2005–2009)

References

External links

Official website

Official website of Benedetto Della Vedova

Manifesto "Give a libertarian soul to the centre-right"
{{Historical Italian political parties 2005 establishments in Italy 2009 disestablishments in Italy Liberal parties in Italy Radical parties in Italy Political parties established in 2005 Political parties disestablished in 2009 Libertarianism in Italy Classical liberal parties Libertarian parties Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Italy

History

Ideology

Leadership

See also

References

External links