Proletarian Democracy Democrazia Proletaria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | DP |
| General Secretary | Mario Capanna Giovanni Russo Spena |
| Founded | 1975 (as coalition) 13 April 1978 (as party) |
| Dissolved | 9 June 1991 |
| Split from | Proletarian Unity Party |
| Merged into | Communist Refoundation Party |
| Newspaper | Quotidiano dei lavoratori |
| Membership | max: 10,310 (1988) min: 2,500 (1979) |
| Ideology | Communism[1] Trotskyism[2] Eco-socialism[3] Pacifism[4] |
| Political position | Far-left[5][6] |
| European Parliament group | Technical Group of Independents (1979–84) Rainbow Group (1984–89) Green Group (1989–94) |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | |
| democraziaproletaria | |
Proletarian Democracy (Italian:Democrazia Proletaria, DP) was afar-leftpolitical party in Italy.
DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of theProletarian Unity Party (PdUP), Workers Vanguard (AO) and the "Workers Movement for Socialism" (MLS), for the1975 Italian regional elections. At the local level, smaller groups joined, such as the "Marxist-Leninist Communist Organization", "Revolutionary Communist Groups - IV International" and the "League of the Communists".
DP took part in the 1976 elections, winning 556,022 votes (1.51%) and 6 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. On 13 April 1978, DP was transformed into a political party. The move to make DP into a real political party was pushed through by the minority wing of PdUP, led byjournalistVittorio Foa andSilvano Miniati; the majority of AO, led by Massimo Gorla and Luigi Vinci; and the League of the Communists, led by Romano Luporini.
The main figure of DP was the charismaticMario Capanna, a former student leader associated with the 1968New Left movement.
The strongholds of DP were the industrial cities ofNorthern Italy, which had strong leftist traditions. DP was opposed to the so-called 'historic compromise' between theItalian Communist Party and theChristian Democrats.
During the 1978 electoral campaign,Peppino Impastato, a leading DP member fromSicily, was murdered bythe Mafia.
In the1979 elections for the European Parliament, DP won 1 seat in theTechnical Group of Independents group.
In the1983 Italian general election DP won 542,039 votes (1.47%) and 7 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the1987 general election DP won 642,161 votes (1.66%) and 8 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the same year DP won 493,667 votes (1.52%) and one seat in the election to the Senate.
In 1987 Capanna stepped down, andGiovanni Russo Spena became the secretary of DP. Two years later, the DP suffered a split, as a section led by Capanna launched their own list on ahead of the elections to theEuropean Parliament, in association with leadingRadicals, called theRainbow Greens.
On 9 June 1991 the congress of DP inRiccione decided to merge the party into the Communist Refoundation Movement, which became theCommunist Refoundation Party.[7]
| Chamber of Deputies | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 557,025 (7th) | 1.5 | 6 / 630 | – | |
| 1979 | 294,462 (10th) | 0.8[a] | 0 / 630 |  6 | |
| 1983 | 542,039 (9th) | 1.5 | 7 / 630 |  7 | |
| 1987 | 641,901 (11th) | 1.7 | 8 / 630 | 1 | |
| Senate of the Republic | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 78,170 (11th) | 0.3 | 0 / 315 | – | |
| 1979 | 410,048 (9th) | 1.3[a] | 0 / 315 | – | |
| 1983 | 327,750 (10th) | 1.1 | 0 / 315 | – | |
| 1987 | 493,667 (11th) | 1.5 | 1 / 315 | 1 | |
| European Parliament | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 252,342 (10th) | 0.7 | 1 / 81 | – | |
| 1984 | 506,753 (8th) | 1.4 | 1 / 81 | – | |
| 1989 | 449,639 (10th) | 1.3 | 1 / 81 | – | |
| Regions of Italy | |||||
| Election year | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 271,216 (8th) | 0.9 | 4 / 720 | – | |
| 1980 | 274,100 (9th) | 0.9 | 2 / 720 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 470,626 (9th) | 1.5 | 9 / 720 | 7 | |
| 1990 | 308,650 (13th) | 1.0 | 4 / 720 | 5 | |
 Historical political parties in Italy | |
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| Communist |
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| Democratic socialist |
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| Green |
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| Social-democratic and liberal-socialist |
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| Radical and social-liberal |
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| Centrist and centrist liberal |
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| Regionalist and federalist |
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| Christian-democratic |
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| Conservative-liberal |
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| Liberal-conservative |
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| National-conservative |
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| Nationalist |
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
