The Democratic Party of the Left (, PDS) was a democratic-socialist and

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments ...

evolution of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

, the party was the largest in the

Alliance of Progressives The Alliance of Progressives () 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 alliance was a predecessor of the mod ...

and The Olive Tree coalitions. In February 1998, the party merged with minor parties to form

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

. At its peak in 1991, the party had a membership of 989,708; by 1998, it was reduced to 613,412.

History

The PDS evolved from the

(PCI), the largest Communist party in the

Western Bloc The Western Bloc, also known as the Capitalist Bloc, the Freedom Bloc, the Free Bloc, and the American Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War (1947–1991). While ...

for most of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Since 1948, it had been the second-largest party in

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

. The PCI moved away from Communist orthodoxy in the late 1960s, when it opposed the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

. In the 1970s, it was one of the first parties to embrace

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...

. By the late 1980s, the PCI had ties with

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

parties, and it was increasingly apparent that it was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party. With this in mind, the PCI dissolved itself and refounded itself as the PDS in 1991, reforming its ideology to adopt acceptance of a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

and the

mixed economy A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services. More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...

. The party's first leader was Achille Occhetto, the final party secretary of the PCI. Although Ochetto had proclaimed the end of Communism, the new party's logo consisted of an

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

tree sprouting from the previous symbol of the PCI in a

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

at the tree's roots. This logo was adopted not only to allow the PDS to trade on the PCI's roots but to keep any potential splinter party from immediately adopting the old PCI symbol. This did not prevent hard-liners leaving the party and launching the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party (, PRC) is a Communism, communist List of political parties in Italy, 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 r ...

(PRC). In 1993, the PDS was admitted into both the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

and the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

(PES). In the same year, the party's

Members of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...

moved from the European United Left to the PES group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. In 1996, the PDS explored the possibility of adopting the

fist and rose The fist and rose, sometimes called the rose in the fist or fist with a rose, is an emblem used or formerly used by a number of Left-wing politics, left-wing and Centre-left politics, center-left parties and political organizations around the wo ...

emblem of the Socialist International but was prevented to do it by 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 ...

, which had obtained the right to use it in Italy in the 1970s. In the

1992 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on 5 and 6 April 1992.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1048 They were the first without the traditionally second most important political force in Italian p ...

, the PDS reached second place with 107 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 64 in the Senate. The PDS had briefly entered the

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

of the Ciampi Cabinet, headed by

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994. A World War II veteran, C ...

, on 29 April 1993, holding three ministries. Both the PDS and

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens (, 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. The FdV was part of the Eur ...

quickly withdrew from the cabinet on 4 May 1993 in protest against the Chamber's refusal to begin prosecution of former Prime Minister

Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( ; ; ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician and statesman, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from 1 ...

. The party's transformation from the PCI to the PDS happened with the background of ''

Tangentopoli (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...

'' and the end of the First Republic, when the dominant

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

and four other establishment parties collapsed and were replaced by new political formations during 1992–1994. In the following

1994 Italian general election The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Occhetto was the leader of the

, a left-wing coalition of which the PDS was the largest single party. He lost to the

centre-right coalition 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 c ...

, organised during the election as the

Pole of Freedoms The Pole of Freedoms () was a centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in central and southern Italy was the Pole of Good Government, both forming the f ...

and

Pole of Good Government The Pole of Good Government () was a centre-right electoral, and later political alliance in Italy, launched at the 1994 general election by Silvio Berlusconi. Its counterpart in Northern Italy was the Pole of Freedoms, both forming the first ...

jointly led by

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 ...

, who became

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

for the first time. In the aftermath of the election,

Massimo D'Alema Massimo D'Alema (; born 20 April 1949) is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema ...

was elected new party secretary. In the

1996 Italian general election The 1996 Italian general election was held on 21 April 1996 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left The Olive Tree, won the election, narrowly defeating Silvio Berl ...

, after the collapse of Berlusconi's coalition, the PDS was the largest component of the

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the c ...

, winning the election under the banner of The Olive Tree led by

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

. It became the largest single party in the legislature, with 146 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 102 in the Senate. The

Prodi I Cabinet The first Prodi government was the 53rd government of Italy. It held office from 18 May 1996 until 21 October 1998. Formation On 21 April 1996, the Olive Tree won 1996 general election in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), ...

included 16 PDS ministers and 10 PDS junior ministers; it was the first time that former Communists had taken part in government in half a century.

Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist and politician. He served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the Italian centre-left opposition until his resignation on 17 February 2009. H ...

, a leading member of the PDS, served as

Deputy Prime Minister of Italy The deputy prime minister of Italy, officially the vice-president of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic (Italian language, Italian: ''Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana''), is a senior member of th ...

, while another leading member,

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

, became the

Italian Minister of the Interior The minister of the interior (Italian: ''ministro dell'interno'') in Italy is one of the most important positions in the Council of Ministers (Italy), Italian Council of Ministers and leads the Ministry of the Interior (Italy), Ministry of the ...

. In 1997, D'Alema called for the party to become a full-fledged European social-democratic party. In accordance with this call, the PDS merged in 1998 with the Labour Federation (splinters of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

), the

Social Christians The Social Christians () are a Christian social-democratic faction within the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy. Before that, they were a party (1993–1998) and a faction of the Democrats of the Left (1998–2007). The CS are a me ...

(including also several former Christian Democrats), the Republican Left (splinters of the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

), the

Movement of Unitarian Communists The Movement of Unitarian Communists (, MCU), or simply Unitarian Communists (), was a communist political party in Italy. History The party was founded in June 1995 as a split from the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) by Communist MPs who ...

(splinters of the PRC), the

Reformists for Europe The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merge ...

(mostly former members of the

), and the Democratic Federation (a

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n party formed by the Italian Democratic Socialist Party, along with former Republicans and Socialists) to form the

(DS). On that occasion, the DS decided to replace the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

of its logo with the red

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

of European social democracy.

Popular support

The electoral results of PDS in general (

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

) and

elections from 1992 to 1996 are shown in the chart below.

Electoral results

Italian Parliament

European Parliament

Leadership

*Secretary: Achille Occhetto (1991–1994),

(1994–1998) **Coordinator:

(1991–1993), Davide Visani (1993–1994), Mauro Zani (1994–1996), Marco Minniti (1996–1998) **Organizational Secretary: Piero Fassino (1991–1992), Mauro Zani (1992–1994), Marco Minniti (1994–1996), Pietro Folena (1996–1998) *President: Stefano Rodotà (1991–1992), Giglia Tedesco Tatò (1993–1998) *Party Leader in the

: Giulio Quercini (1991–1992),

(1992–1994),

Luigi Berlinguer Luigi Berlinguer (; 25 July 1932 – 1 November 2023) was an Italian jurist and politician. He was a professor at the University of Siena, and also served as the minister of university and research and the minister of education. Early life and ...

(1994–1996), Fabio Mussi (1996–1998) *Party Leader in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

: Ugo Pecchioli (1991–1992), Giuseppe Chiarante (1992–1994),

Cesare Salvi Cesare Salvi (born 9 June 1948) is an Italian politician who served as minister of labor and social security. Early life Salvi was born in Lecce on 9 June 1948. Career Salvi was the spokesperson for the secretary of the Democrats of the Left (D ...

(1994–1998) *Party Leader in the

: Luigi Alberto Colajanni (1991–1994), Renzo Imbeni (1994–1998)