Democratic Party

History

Background: The Olive Tree

In the early 1990s a process was started, aimed at uniting left-wing and centre-left forces into a single political entity. This followed the Tangentopoli corruption scandals, the end of the so-called First Republic and the transformation of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).

In 1995 Romano Prodi, a former minister of Industry on behalf of the left-wing faction of Christian Democracy (DC), entered politics and founded The Olive Tree (L'Ulivo), a centre-left coalition including the PDS, the Italian People's Party (PPI), the Federation of the Greens (FdV), Italian Renewal (RI), the Italian Socialists (SI) and Democratic Union (UD). The coalition in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) won the 1996 general election and Prodi became prime minister.

In February 1998 the PDS merged with minor social democratic parties (Labour Federation and Social Christians, among others) to become the Democrats of the Left (DS), while in March 2002 the PPI, RI and The Democrats (Prodi's own party, launched in 1999) became Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL). In the summer of 2003, Prodi suggested that centre-left forces should participate in the 2004 European Parliament election with a common list. Whereas the Union of Democrats for Europe (UDEUR) and the far-left parties refused, four parties accepted, namely the DS, DL, the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI) and the European Republicans Movement (MRE). These launched a joint list named United in the Olive Tree which ran in the election and garnered 31.1% of the vote. The project was later abandoned in 2005 by the SDI.

In the 2006 general election the list obtained 31.3% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies.

Road to the Democratic Party

The project of a Democratic Party was often mentioned by Prodi as the natural evolution of The Olive Tree and was bluntly envisioned by Michele Salvati, a former centrist deputy of the DS, in an appeal in Il Foglio newspaper in April 2013. The term Partito Democratico was used for the first time in a formal context by the DL and DS members of the Regional Council of Veneto, who chose to form a joint group named The Olive Tree – Venetian Democratic Party (L'Ulivo – Partito Democratico Veneto) in March 2007.

The 2006 election result, anticipated by the 2005 primary election in which over four million voters endorsed Prodi as candidate for prime minister, gave a push to the project of a unified centre-left party. Eight parties agreed to merge into the PD:

Democrats of the Left (DS, social democratic, leader: Piero Fassino)

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL, centrist, leader: Francesco Rutelli).

Southern Democratic Party (PDM, centrist, leader: Agazio Loiero);

Sardinia Project (PS, social democratic, leader: Renato Soru);

European Republicans Movement (MRE, social-liberal, leader: Luciana Sbarbati);

Democratic Republicans (RD, social-liberal, leader: Giuseppe Ossorio);

Middle Italy (IdM, centrist, leader: Marco Follini);

Reformist Alliance (AR, social democratic, leader: Ottaviano Del Turco).

While the DL agreed to the merger with virtually no resistance, the DS experienced a more heated final congress. On 19 April 2007, approximately 75% of party members voted in support of the merger of the DS into the PD. The left-wing opposition, led by Fabio Mussi, obtained just 15% of the support within the party. A third motion, presented by Gavino Angius and supportive of the PD only within the Party of European Socialists (PES), obtained 10% of the vote. Both Mussi and Angius refused to join the PD and, following the congress, founded a new party called Democratic Left (SD).

Foundation and leadership election

All candidates interested in running for the PD leadership had to be associated with one of the founding parties and present at least 2,000 valid signatures by 30 July 2007. A total of ten candidates officially registered their candidacy: Walter Veltroni, Rosy Bindi, Enrico Letta, Furio Colombo, Marco Pannella, Antonio Di Pietro, Mario Adinolfi, Pier Giorgio Gawronski, Jacopo Schettini, Lucio Cangini and Amerigo Rutigliano. Of these, Pannella and Di Pietro were rejected because of their involvement in external parties (the Radicals and Italy of Values respectively) whereas Cangini and Rutigliano did not manage to present the necessary 2,000 valid signatures for the 9 pm deadline and Colombo's candidacy was instead made into hiatus to give him 48 additional hours to integrate the required documentation. Colombo later decided to retire his candidacy citing his impossibility to fit with all the requirements. All rejected candidates had the chance against the decision in 48 hours' time, with Pannella and Rutigliano being the only two candidates to appeal. Both were rejected on 3 August.

On 14 October 2007 Veltroni was elected leader with about 75% of the national votes in an open primary attended by over three million voters. Veltroni was proclaimed secretary during a party's constituent assembly held in Milan on 28 October 2007.

On 21 November the new logo was unveiled. It depicts an olive branch and the acronym PD in colours reminiscent of the Italian tricolour flag (green, white and red). In the words of Ermete Realacci, green represents the ecologist and social-liberal cultures, white the Catholic solidarity and red the socialist and social democratic traditions. The green-white-red idea was coined by Schettini during his campaign.

Leadership of Walter Veltroni

After the premature fall of the Prodi II Cabinet in January 2008, the PD decided to form a less diverse coalition. The party invited the Radicals and the Socialist Party (PS) to join its lists, but only the Radicals accepted and formed an alliance with Italy of Values (IdV) which was set to join the PD after the election. The PD included many notable candidates and new faces in its lists and Walter Veltroni, who tried to present the PD as the party of the renewal in contrast both with Silvio Berlusconi and the previous centre-left government, ran an intense and modern campaign which led him to visit all provinces of Italy, but that was not enough.

In the 2008 general election on 13–14 April 2008, the PD–IdV coalition won 37.5% of the vote and was defeated by the centre-right coalition, composed of The People of Freedom (PdL), the Lega Nord and the Movement for Autonomy (46.8%). The PD was able to absorb some votes from the parties of the far-left as also IdV did, but lost voters to the Union of the Centre (UdC), ending up with 33.2% of the vote, 217 deputies and 119 senators. After the election Veltroni, who was gratified by the result, formed a shadow cabinet. IdV, excited by its 4.4% which made it the fourth largest party in Parliament, refused to join both the Democratic groups and the shadow cabinet.

The early months after the election were a difficult time for the PD and Veltroni, whose leadership was weakened by the growing influence of internal factions because of the popularity of Berlusconi and the dramatic rise of IdV in opinion polls. IdV became a strong competitor of the PD and the relations between the two parties became tense. In the 2008 Abruzzo regional election, the PD was forced to support IdV candidate Carlo Costantini. In October, Veltroni, who distanced from Di Pietro many times, declared that "on some issues he [Di Pietro] is distant from the democratic language of the centre-left".

Leadership of Dario Franceschini

After a crushing defeat in the February 2009 Sardinian regional election, Walter Veltroni resigned as party secretary. His deputy Dario Franceschini took over as interim party secretary to guide the party toward the selection of a new stable leader. Franceschini was elected by the party's national assembly with 1,047 votes out of 1,258. His only opponent Arturo Parisi won a mere 92 votes. Franceschini was the first former Christian Democrat to lead the party.

The 2009 European Parliament election was an important test for the PD. Prior to the election, the PD considered offering hospitality to the Socialist Party (PS) and the Greens in its lists, and proposed a similar pact to Democratic Left (SD). However, the Socialists, the Greens and Democratic Left decided instead to contest the election together as a new alliance called Left and Freedom which failed to achieve the 4% threshold required to return any MEPs, but damaged the PD, which gained 26.1% of the vote, returning 21 MEPs.

Leadership of Pier Luigi Bersani

The national convention and a subsequent open primary were called for October, with Franceschini, Pier Luigi Bersani and Ignazio Marino were running for the leadership, while a fourth candidate, Rutigliano, was excluded because of lack of signatures. In local conventions, a 56.4% of party members voted and Bersani was by far the most voted candidate with 55.1% of the vote, largely ahead of Franceschini (37.0%) and Marino (7.9%). Three million people participated in the open primary on 25 October 2009; Bersani was elected new secretary of the party with about 53% of the vote, ahead of Franceschini with 34% and Marino with 13%. On 7 November, during the first meeting of the new national assembly, Bersani was declared secretary, Rosy Bindi was elected party president (with Marina Sereni and Ivan Scalfarotto vice presidents), Enrico Letta deputy secretary and Antonio Misiani treasurer.

In reaction to the election of Bersani, perceived by some moderates as an old-style social democrat, Francesco Rutelli (a long-time critic of the party's course) and other centrists and liberals within the PD left to form a new centrist party, named Alliance for Italy (ApI). Following March 2009, and especially after Bersani's victory, many deputies, senators, one MEP and several regional/local councillors left the party to join the UdC, ApI and other minor parties. They included many Rutelliani and most Teodems.

In March 2010, a big round of regional elections, involving eleven regions, took place. The PD lost four regions to the centre-right (Piedmont, Lazio, Campania and Calabria), and maintained its hold on six (Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria and Basilicata), plus Apulia, a traditionally conservative region where due to divisions within the centre-right Nichi Vendola of SEL was re-elected with the PD's support.

In September 2011, Bersani was invited by Antonio Di Pietro's IdV to take part to its annual late summer convention in Vasto, Abruzzo. Bersani, who had been accused by Di Pietro of avoiding him to court the centre-right UdC, proposed the formation of a New Olive Tree coalition comprising the PD, IdV and SEL. The three party leaders agreed in what was soon dubbed the pact of Vasto. The pact was broken after the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister in November 2011, as the PD gave external support to Mario Monti's technocratic government, along with the PdL and the UdC.

Leadership of Guglielmo Epifani

After Bersani's resignation from party secretary on 20 April 2013, the PD remained without a leader for two weeks. On 11 May 2013, Guglielmo Epifani was elected secretary at the national assembly of the party with 85.8% of vote. Epifani, secretary-general of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), Italy's largest trade union, from 2002 to 2010, was the first former Socialist to lead the party. Epifani's mission was to lead the party toward a national convention in October.

A few weeks after Epifani's election as secretary, the PD had a success in the 2013 local elections, winning in 69 comuni (including Rome and all the other 14 provincial capitals up for election) while the PdL won 22 and the M5S 1.

The decision, on 9 November, that the PD would organise the next congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Rome in early 2014, sparked protests among some of the party's Christian democrats, who opposed PES membership.

Epifani was little more than a secretary pro tempore and in fact frequently repeated that he was not going to run for a full term as secretary in the leadership race that would take place in late 2013, saying that his candidacy would be a betrayal of his mandate.

Leadership of Matteo Renzi

Four individuals filed their bid for becoming secretary, namely Matteo Renzi, Pippo Civati, Gianni Cuperlo and Gianni Pittella.

The leadership race started with voting by party members in local conventions (7–17 November). Renzi came first with 45.3%, followed by Cuperlo (39.4%), Civati (9.4%) and Pittella (5.8%). The first three were admitted to the open primary.

On 8 December, Renzi, who won in all regions but was stronger in the Centre-North, trounced his opponents with 67.6% of the vote. Cuperlo, whose support was higher in the South, came second with 18.2% while Civati, whose message did well with northern urban and progressive voters, came third with 14.2%. On 15 December, Renzi, whose executive included many young people and a majority of women, was proclaimed secretary by the party's national assembly while Cuperlo was elected president as proposed by Renzi.

On 20 January 2014, Cuperlo criticised the electoral reform proposed by Renzi in agreement with Berlusconi, but the proposal was overwhelmingly approved by the party's national board. The day after the vote, Cuperlo resigned from president. He was later replaced by Matteo Orfini, who hailed from the party's left wing, but since then became more and more supportive of Renzi.

After frequent calls by Renzi for a new phase, the national board decided to put an end to Letta's government on 13 February and form a new one led by Renzi as the latter had proposed. Subsequently, Renzi was sworn in as prime minister on 22 February at the head of an identical coalition. On 28 February, the PD officially joined the PES as a full member, ending a decade-long debate.

In the 2014 European Parliament election, the party obtained 40.8% of the vote and 31 seats. The party's score was virtually 15 percentage points up from five years before and the best result for an Italian party in a nationwide election since the 1958 general election, when Christian Democracy won 42.4%. The PD was also the largest national party within the Parliament in its 8th term. Following his party's success, Renzi was able to secure the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy within the European Commission for Federica Mogherini, his minister of Foreign Affairs.

Leadership of Maurizio Martina

In July, Maurizio Martina was elected secretary by the party's national assembly and a new leadership election was scheduled for the first semester of 2019. On 17 November 2018, Martina resigned and the national assembly was dissolved, starting the electoral proceedings.

During Martina's tenure, especially after a rally in Rome in September, the party started to prepare for the leadership election.

In January 2019, Calenda launched the "We Are Europeans" manifesto advocating for a pro-Europeanist joint list at the upcoming European Parliament election. Among those who signed there were several Democratic regional presidents and mayors as well as Giuseppe Sala and Giuliano Pisapia, two independents who are the current mayor of Milan and his predecessor, respectively. Calenda aimed at uniting the PD, More Europe and the Greens–Italia in Comune.

Leadership of Nicola Zingaretti

Three major candidates, Martina, Nicola Zingaretti and Roberto Giachetti, plus a handful of minor ones, formally filed papers to run for secretary. Prior to that, Marco Minniti, minister of the Interior in the Gentiloni Cabinet, had also launched his bid, before renouncing in December and supporting Zingaretti. Zingaretti won the first round by receiving 47.4% of the vote among party members in local conventions. He, along with Martina and Giachetti, qualified for the primary election, to be held on 3 March. In the event, Zingaretti was elected secretary, exceeding expectations and winning 66.0% of the vote while Martina and Giachetti won 22.0% and 12.0%, respectively.

Zingaretti was officially appointed by the national assembly, on 17 March. On the same day, former Prime Minister Gentiloni was elected as the party's new president. A month later, Zingaretti appointed Andrea Orlando and Paola De Micheli as deputy secretaries.

In the run-up to the 2019 European Parliament election Zingaretti presented a special logo including a large reference to "We Are Europeans" and the symbol of the PES. Additionally, the party forged an alliance with Article One. In the election, the PD garnered 22.7% of the vote, finishing second after the League. Calenda was the most voted candidate of the party.

On 3 July 2019, David Sassoli, a member of the PD, was elected President of the European Parliament.

In August 2019 tensions grew within Conte's government coalition, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence on Prime Minister Conte by the League. After Conte's resignation, the national board of the PD officially opened to the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the M5S, based on pro-Europeanism, green economy, sustainable development, fight against economic inequality and a new immigration policy. The party also accepted that Conte may continue at the head of a new government, and on 29 August President Mattarella formally invested Conte to do so. Disappointed by the party's decision to form a government with the M5S, Calenda decided to leave and establish We Are Europeans as an independent party.

The Conte II Cabinet took office on 5 September, with Franceschini as Minister of Culture and head of the PD's delegation. Gentiloni was contextually picked by the government as the Italian member of the von der Leyen Commission and would serve as European Commissioner for the Economy.

Leadership of Enrico Letta

In the midst of the formation of Draghi's government, Zingaretti was heavily criticised by the party's minority for his management of the crisis and strenuous support to Conte. On 4 March, after weeks of internal turmoil, Zingaretti announced his resignation as secretary, stating that he was "ashamed of the power struggles" within the party. In the next days, many prominent members of the PD, including Zingaretti himself, but also former Prime Minister Gentiloni, former party secretary Franceschini and President of Emilia-Romagna Bonaccini, publicly asked former Prime Minister Enrico Letta to become the new leader of the party. Following an initial reluctancy, Letta stated that he needed a few days to evaluate the option. On 12 March, he officially accepted his candidacy as new party's leader. On 14 March, the national assembly of the PD elected Letta secretary with 860 votes in favour, 2 against and 4 abstentions.

On 17 March, Letta appointed Irene Tinagli and Peppe Provenzano as his deputy secretaries. On the following day, he appointed the party's new executive, composed of eight men and eight women. Later that month, Letta forced the party's leaders in Parliament, Graziano Delrio and Andrea Marcucci, to resign and proposed the election of two female leaders. Consequently, Simona Malpezzi and Debora Serracchiani were elected to replace them.

In October 2021, Letta won the by-election for the Siena district with 49.9% of votes, returning to the Parliament after six years. In the concurrent local elections, the PD and its allies won municipal elections in Milan, Bologna, Naples, Rome, Turin and many other major cities across the country.

In July 2022 the M5S did not participate in a Senate's confidence vote on a government bill. Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Mattarella. After a few days, Draghi sought a confidence vote again to secure the government majority supporting his cabinet, while rejecting the proposal put forward by Lega and FI of a new government without the M5S. In that occasion, the M5S, Lega, FI and FdI did not participate in the vote. Consequently, Draghi tendered his final resignation to President Mattarella, who dissolved the houses of Parliament, leading to the 2022 general election. The event led the party to terminate the alliance with the M5S.

In the run-up of the election, the PD formed a joint list named Democratic and Progressive Italy (IDP) along with several minor parties, notably including Article One, the Italian Socialist Party and Solidary Democracy. The PD also signed individual alliances with Action–More Europe, the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) formed by Green Europe and Italian Left, and Luigi Di Maio's and Bruno Tabacci's Civic Commitment. Under each agreement, the PD would give a number of candidates in single-seat constituencies to each coalition partner. A few days before the closing of coalitions and lists, Calenda announced that he was walking away from the pact he has signed with Letta because of the subsequent alliances that the PD had formed, notably including that with the AVS. The IDP list offered a broad range of candidates, including some high-profile independents: left-wingers like Susanna Camusso and Elly Schlein, the liberal economist Carlo Cottarelli, Christian-democrat and long-time MP Pier Ferdinando Casini, scientist Andrea Crisanti, etc.

Leadership of Elly Schlein

The 2023 leadership election scheduled for February 2023 was the final step of a "constituent" process for the PD, as the party amended its statute, updated its internal charters and refreshed its political platform, while welcoming individuals, minor parties and groups. Among minor parties, Article One, Solidary Democracy and the Democratic Centre indicated their intent to merge into the PD. Outgoing secretary Letta and Article One leader Roberto Speranza were chosen to lead the committee overseeing the process. Former minister Paola De Micheli was the first to announce her candidacy in late September, but the two top contenders were Stefano Bonaccini, president of Emilia Romagna, and Elly Schlein, Bonaccini's former vice president. Bonaccini was supported by most regional presidents and big-city mayors, plus the more moderate factions of the party, notably including Reformist Base, while the more radical Schlein counted on the endorsement on most of the party's left and most bigwigs, including former leaders Dario Franceschini (despite most of his faction supporting Bonaccini) and Nicola Zingaretti. A fourth candidate, Gianni Cuperlo, representing the traditional left-wing within the party, announced his bid just before Christmas.

Bonaccini won the first round by receiving 52.9% of the vote among party members in local conventions, while Schlein came second with 34.9% and was the only one to qualify for the primary election, along with Bonaccini. In the event, on 26 February, Schlein was surprisingly elected secretary, by defeating Bonaccini 53.8% to 46.2%. Schlein was officially appointed by the national assembly, on 12 March. On the same day, as proposed by Schlein, Bonaccini was elected as the party's president. In June 2023, during an assembly of delegates held in Naples, Article One was merged into the PD.

In the 2024 European Parliament election Schlein will lead the party in two constituencies, but refrained to add her name to the symbol, after internal opposition. Bonaccini, philanthropist Cecilia Strada and journalist Lucia Annunziata will lead the party in the other three constituencies. Other leading candidates include Giorgio Gori, Matteo Ricci and Antonio Decaro (outgoing mayors of Bergamo, Pesaro and Bari, respectively), as well as former party leader Zingaretti and Marco Tarquinio, a social-conservative and pacifist journalist. The PD's share of the vote was 24.1%, with Decaro and Bonaccini being the most voted candidates and receiving far more preference votes than Schlein in their respective constituencies.

Ideology

The PD is a big tent centre-left party, influenced by the ideas of social democracy and the Christian left. The common roots of the founding components of the party reside in the Italian resistance movement, the writing of Italian Constitution and the Historic Compromise, all three events which saw the Italian Communist Party and Christian Democracy (the two major forerunners of the Democrats of the Left and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, respectively) cooperate. Modern American liberalism is an important source of inspiration. In a 2008 interview to El País, Veltroni, who can be considered the main founding father of the party, clearly stated that the PD should be considered a reformist party and could not be linked to the traditional values of the political left.

There is also a debate on whether the PD is actually a social democratic party and to what extent. In 2009, Alfred Pfaller observed that the PD "has adopted a pronounced centrist-pragmatic position, trying to appeal to a broad spectrum of middle-class and working-class voters, but shying away from a determined pursuit of redistributive goals". In 2016, Gianfranco Pasquino commented that "for almost all the leaders, militants and members of the PD, social democracy has never been part of their past nor should represent their political goal", adding that "its overall identity and perception are by no means those of a European-style social democratic party". The party's economics policies accepted economic liberal elements under Renzi's leadership, moving towards adopting more explicitly neoliberal and monetarist policies as a result of the Third Way philosophy adopted by European social democratic parties.

The party stresses national and social cohesion, progressivism, a moderate social liberalism, green issues, progressive taxation, and pro-Europeanism. In this respect, the party's precursors strongly supported the need of balancing budgets to comply to Maastricht criteria. Under Veltroni and Renzi, the party took a strong stance in favour of constitutional reform and of a new electoral law on the road toward a two-party system.

While traditionally supporting the social integration of immigrants, the PD has adopted a more critical approach on the issue since 2017. Inspired by Renzi, re-elected secretary in April, and Marco Minniti, interior minister since December 2016, the party promoted stricter policies regarding immigration and public security. These policies resulted in broad criticism from the left-wing Democrats and Progressives (partners in government) as well as left-leaning intellectuals like Roberto Saviano and Gad Lerner. In August, Lerner, who was among the founding members of the PD, left the party altogether due to its new immigration policies.

Ideological trends

The PD is a diverse party, including several distinct ideological trends:

Social democracy – the bulk of the party, including many former Democrats of the Left, is social democratic and emphasises labour and social issues. There are traditional social democrats (Nicola Zingaretti and his Great Square faction, Andrea Orlando and his Democracy Europe Society faction, Maurizio Martina and his Side by Side faction, Gianni Cuperlo and LeftDem, as well as many other people and factions; prior to the February 2017 split, it also included Massimo D'Alema, Pier Luigi Bersani, Enrico Rossi and Roberto Speranza), and Third Way types (Walter Veltroni, Piero Fassino and Debora Serracchiani, among others). While the former are supportive of democratic socialism, the latter are strongly influenced by modern American liberalism and New Labour ideas.

Christian left – the party includes many Christian-inspired members, most of whom come from the left wing of the late Christian Democracy (having later joined Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy). Democratic Catholics have been affiliated to several factions, including Luca Lotti's Reformist Base, Dario Franceschini's AreaDem (which includes also some leading Third-Way social democrats as the aforementioned Fassino and Serracchiani), Enrico Letta's 360 Association (also Lettiani, mainly Christian democrats and centrists), Giuseppe Fioroni's Populars, Rosy Bindi's Democrats Really and the Social Christians (who adhere to Christian socialism).

Social liberalism – it is endorsed by former members of the Italian Republican Party, the Italian Liberal Party and the Radical Party, and notably the Liberal PD faction.

Green politics – it is endorsed mainly by former members of the Federation of the Greens and other greens, who have jointly formed the Democratic Ecologists.

It is not an easy task to include the trend represented by Matteo Renzi, whose supporters have been known as Big Bangers, Now!, or more frequently Renziani, in any of the categories above. The nature of Renzi's progressivism is a matter of debate and has been linked both to liberalism and populism. According to Maria Teresa Meli of Corriere della Sera, Renzi "pursues a precise model, borrowed from the Labour Party and Bill Clinton's Democratic Party", comprising "a strange mix (for Italy) of liberal policies in the economic sphere and populism. This means that, on one side, he will attack the privileges of trade unions, especially of the CGIL, which defends only the already protected, while, on the other, he will sharply attack the vested powers, bankers, Confindustria and a certain type of capitalism ... ". After Renzi led some of his followers out of the party and launched the alternative Italia Viva party, a good chunk of Renziani (especially those affiliated to Reformist Base and Liberal PD) remained in the PD. Other leading former Renziani notably include Lorenzo Guerini, Graziano Delrio (party leader in the Chamber) and Andrea Marcucci (party leader in the Senate).

International affiliation

International affiliation was quite a controversial issue for the PD in its early days and it was settled only in 2014. The debate on which European political party to join saw the former Democrats of the Left generally in favour of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and most former members of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy in favour of the European Democratic Party (EDP), a component of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group. After the party's formation in 2007, the new party's MEPs continued to sit with the PES and ALDE groups to which their former parties had been elected during the 2004 European Parliament election. Following the 2009 European Parliament election, the party's 21 MEPs chose to unite for the new term within the European parliamentary group of the PES, which was renamed the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

On 15 December 2012, PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani attended in Rome the founding convention of the Progressive Alliance (PA), a nascent political international for parties dissatisfied with the continued admittance and inclusion of authoritarian movements into the Socialist International (SI). On 22 May 2013, the PD was a founding member of the PA at the international's official inauguration in Leipzig, Germany on the eve of the 150th anniversary of the formation of the General German Workers' Association, the oldest of the two parties which merged in 1875 to form the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Matteo Renzi, a centrist who led the party in 2013–2018, wanted the party to join both the SI and the PES. On 20 February 2014, the PD leadership applied for full membership of the PES. In Renzi's view, the party would count more as a member of a major European party and within the PES it would join forces with alike parties such as the British Labour Party. On 28 February, the PD was welcomed as a full member into the PES.

Factions

The PD includes several internal factions, most of which trace the previous allegiances of party members. Factions form different alliances depending on the issues and some party members have multiple factional allegiances.

2007 leadership election

After the election, which saw the victory of Walter Veltroni, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Walter Veltroni (75.8%)

Three national lists supported the candidacy of Veltroni. The bulk of the former Democrats of the Left (Veltroniani, Dalemiani, Fassiniani), the Rutelliani of Francesco Rutelli (including the Teodems), The Populars of Franco Marini, Liberal PD, the Social Christians and smaller groups (Middle Italy, European Republicans Movement, Reformist Alliance and the Reformists for Europe) formed a joint-list named Democrats with Veltroni (43.7%). The Democratic Ecologists of Ermete Realacci, together with Giovanna Melandri and Cesare Damiano, formed Environment, Innovation and Labour (8.1%). The Democrats, Laicists, Socialists, Say Left and the Labourites – Liberal Socialists presented a list named To the Left (7.7%). Local lists in support of Veltroni got 16.4%.

Minorities led by Rosy Bindi (12.9%) and Enrico Letta (11.0%)

The Olivists, whose members were staunch supporters of Romano Prodi, divided in two camps. The largest one, including Arturo Parisi, endorsed Rosy Bindi while a smaller one, including Paolo De Castro, endorsed Enrico Letta. Bindi benefited also from the support of Agazio Loiero's Southern Democratic Party while Letta was endorsed by Lorenzo Dellai's Daisy Civic List, Renato Soru's Sardinia Project and Gianni Pittella's group of social democrats.

2009 leadership election

After the election, which saw the victory of Pier Luigi Bersani, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Pier Luigi Bersani (53.2%)

Bersaniani and Dalemiani: the social democratic groups around Bersani and Massimo D'Alema (who wants the PD to be a traditional centre-left party in the European social democratic tradition). D'Alema organised his faction as Reformists and Democrats, welcoming also some Lettiani and some Populars.

Lettiani: the centrist group around Enrico Letta, known also as 360 Association. Its members were keen supporters of an alliance with the Union of the Centre.

To the Left: the social democratic and democratic-socialist internal left led by Livia Turco.

Democrats Really: the group around Rosy Bindi and composed mainly of the left-wing members of the late Italian People's Party.

Social Christians: a Christian social democratic group that was a founding component of the Democrats of the Left.

Democracy and Socialism: a social democratic group of splinters from the Socialist Party led by Gavino Angius.

AreaDem, minority led by Dario Franceschini (34.3%).

Veltroniani: followers of Walter Veltroni and social democrats coming from the Democrats of the Left who support the so-called "majoritarian vocation" of the party, the selection of party candidates and leaders through primaries and a two-party system.

Populars/Fourth Phase: heirs of the Christian left tradition of the Italian People's Party and of the left wing of the late Christian Democracy.

2010–2013 developments

In the summer of 2010, Dario Franceschini, leader of AreaDem (the largest minority faction) and Piero Fassino re-approached with Pier Luigi Bersani and joined the party majority. As a response, Walter Veltroni formed Democratic Movement to defend the "original spirit" of the PD. In doing this he was supported by 75 deputies: 33 Veltroniani, 35 Populars close to Giuseppe Fioroni and 7 former Rutelliani led by Paolo Gentiloni. Some pundits hinted that the Bersani-Franceschini pact was envisioned in order both to marginalise Veltroni and to reduce the influence of Massimo D'Alema, the party bigwig behind Bersani, whose 2009 bid was supported primarily by Dalemiani. Veltroni and D'Alema had been long-time rivals within the centre-left.

As of September the party's majority was composed of those who supported Bersani since the beginning (divided in five main factions: Bersaniani, Dalemiani, Lettiani, Bindiani and the party's left-wing) and AreaDem of Franceschini and Fassino. There were also two minority coalitions, namely Veltroni's Democratic Movement (Veltroniani, Fioroni's Populars, ex-Rutelliani, Democratic Ecologists and a majority of Liberal PD members) and Change Italy of Ignazio Marino.

According to Corriere della Sera in November 2011, the party was divided mainly in three ideological camps battling for its soul:

a socialist left: the Young Turks (mostly supporters of Bersani such as Stefano Fassina and Matteo Orfini);

a social democratic centre: it includes Bersani's core supporters (Bersaniani, Dalemiani and Bindiani); and

a "new right": Matteo Renzi's faction, proposing an overtly liberal political line.

Since November 2011, similar differences surfaced in the party over Monti Cabinet. While the party's right wing, especially Liberal PD, was enthusiastic in its support, Fassina and other leftists, especially those linked to trade unions, were critical. In February 2012, Fassina published a book in which he described his view as "neo-labourite humanism" and explained it in connection with Catholic social teaching, saying that his "neo-labourism" was designed to attract Catholic voters. Once again, his opposition to economic liberalism was strongly criticised by the party's right-wing as well as by Stefano Ceccanti, a leading Catholic in the party and supporter of Tony Blair's New Labour, who said that a leftist platform à la Fassina would never win back the Catholic vote in places like Veneto.

2013 leadership election

After the election, which saw the victory of Matteo Renzi, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Matteo Renzi (67.6%)

Renziani, AreaDem, Veltroniani, The Populars, Liberal PD, most Lettiani, most Olivists and Democratic Ecologists

Minority led by Gianni Cuperlo (18.2%):

Bersaniani, Dalemiani, Young Turks/Remake Italy and most Democrats Really

Minority led by Pippo Civati (14.2%):

Civatiani, Laura Puppato and Felice Casson

2014–2016 alignments

After 2013 leadership election, the party's main factions were the following:

Renziani: the group around Matteo Renzi, PD leader and prime minister as well as a liberal, Third Way-oriented and modernising faction. Renziani supported a two-party system and the so-called "majoritarian vocation" of the PD through the formation of a "party of the nation". Prominent members of the faction were Luca Lotti, Maria Elena Boschi, Graziano Delrio, Lorenzo Guerini, Paolo Gentiloni and Stefano Bonaccini. The faction had a Christian-democratic section called Democratic Space which was led by Delrio and Guerini. Another group of Christian democrats, namely The Populars of Giuseppe Fioroni, were also affiliated. According to news sources as of December 2016, full-fledged Renziani counted 50 MPs, The Populars 30 and other Renziani 25, for a total of 105.

AreaDem: a mainly Christian leftist faction, with roots in Christian Democracy's left-wing and the Italian People's Party. Led by Dario Franceschini, it notably included Luigi Zanda and Ettore Rosato as well as prominent social democrats like Piero Fassino and Debora Serracchiani, for a total of 90 MPs.

Left is Change: social democratic faction led by Maurizio Martina. Most of its members were affiliated with Reformist Area (see below), but splintered to support Renzi. The faction which included Cesare Damiano, Vannino Chiti and Anna Finocchiaro, among others, counted 70 MPs.

Remake Italy: a social democratic faction loyal to Renzi. Led by Matteo Orfini (the party's president) and Andrea Orlando, it counted 60 MPs.

Reformist Area/Left: inspired by traditional social democracy and democratic socialism, it was the main left wing of the party. It was formed by the majority of Bersaniani, loyalists of former secretary Pier Luigi Bersani. The faction's leader was Roberto Speranza. The Reformists often opposed Renzi's policies. Other than Speranza and Bersani, the faction notably included Guglielmo Epifani and Rosy Bindi (whose sub-faction was named Democrats Really) and counted 60 MPs.

LeftDem: led by Gianni Cuperlo, it was another minority social democratic faction, including 15 MPs.

2017 leadership election

After the election which saw the victory of Matteo Renzi, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Matteo Renzi (69.2%)

Renziani; AreaDem; The Populars; a majority of Left is Change (e.g. leader Maurizio Martina, who would serve as deputy secretary if Renzi were to win); a minority of Remake Italy (e.g. Matteo Orfini); Liberal PD; and several former Lettiani (e.g. Paola De Micheli)

Minority led by Andrea Orlando (20.0%)

A majority of Remake Italy (e.g. Roberto Gualtieri); a minority of Left is Change (e.g. Cesare Damiano and Anna Finocchiaro); LeftDem; NetworkDem; several former leading Veltroniani (e.g. Nicola Zingaretti), Lettiani (e.g. Alessia Mosca), Bindiani (e.g. Margherita Miotto) and Olivists (e.g. Sandra Zampa)

Minority led by Michele Emiliano (10.9%)

Democratic Front, formed by several PD members in the South, especially Apulia (of which Emiliano is President); some former Lettiani (e.g. Francesco Boccia)

2019 leadership election

After the election which saw the victory of Nicola Zingaretti, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Nicola Zingaretti (66.0%)

Great Square, Paolo Gentiloni, AreaDem (Dario Franceschini's Franceschiniani and Piero Fassino, among others), Democracy Europe Society, Dem Labourites (Damiano's faction), Socialists and Democrats, LeftDem and NetworkDem

Minority led by Maurizio Martina (22.0%)

Future! European Democrats (Martina's faction), Harambee (Matteo Richetti), Left Wing (Matteo Orfini) and some Renziani (e.g. Graziano Delrio)

Minority led by Roberto Giachetti (12.0%)

Some Renziani (e.g. Maria Elena Boschi), The Populars (Giuseppe Fioroni), Liberal PD, Social Christians and Democratic Ecologists

After the leadership election, supporters of Martina divided in two camps: the liberal and centrist wing close to Renzi (including Lorenzo Guerini and Luca Lotti) formed Reformist Base, while social-democrats (including Martina, Tommaso Nannicini and Debora Serracchiani), as well as some leading centrists (Delrio and Richetti) formed Side by Side. Additionally, hard-core Renziani, led by Giachetti, formed Always Forward. Others, led by Ettore Rosato, formed Back to the Future.

2023 leadership election

After the election which saw the victory of Elly Schlein, the party's internal composition was as follows:

Majority led by Elly Schlein

Great Square, AreaDem, Democracy Europe Society, Left Wing (Chiara Gribaudo), Next (Marco Furfaro), and Dem Labourites

Minority led by Stefano Bonaccini

People's Energy, Reformist Base, Side by Side, RiforDem (Paolo Gentiloni), Ulivisti 4.0 (some former Lettiani: Mauro Berruto, Marco Meloni and Anna Ascani), Left Wing (Matteo Orfini) and Democratic Initiative (Piero Fassino)

Minority led by Gianni Cuperlo

Democratic Promise

Popular support

As previously the Italian Communist Party, the Democratic Party of the Left, the Democrats of the Left and The Olive Tree, the PD has its strongholds in Central Italy and big cities. The party governs six regions out of twenty and the cities of Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Bari. It also takes part to the government of several other cities, including Padua, Bergamo, Brescia and Verona.

In the 2008 and 2013 general elections, the PD obtained its best results in Tuscany (46.8% and 37.5%), Emilia-Romagna (45.7% and 37.0%), Umbria (44.4% and 32.1%), Marche (41.4% and 27.7%), Liguria (37.6% and 27.7%) and Lazio (36.8% and 25.7%). Democrats are generally stronger in the North than the South, with the sole exception of Basilicata (38.6% in 2008 and 25.7% in 2013), where the party has drawn most of its personnel from Christian Democracy (DC).

The 2014 European Parliament election gave a thumping 40.8% of the vote to the party which was the first Italian party to get more than 40% of the vote in a nationwide election since DC won 42.4% of the vote in the 1958 general election. In 2014, the PD did better in Tuscany (56.6%), Emilia-Romagna (52.5%) and Umbria (49.2%), but made significant gains in Lombardy (40.3%, +19.0% from 2009), Veneto (37.5%, +17.2%) and the South. The 2018 general election was a major defeat for the party as it was reduced to 18.7% (Tuscany 29.6%).

The electoral results of the PD in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 2008 are shown in the chart below.

The electoral results of the PD in the 10 most populated regions of Italy are shown in the table below and in the chart electoral results in Italy are shown.

Election results

Leadership

Secretary: Walter Veltroni (2007–2009), Dario Franceschini (2009), Pier Luigi Bersani (2009–2013), Guglielmo Epifani (2013), Matteo Renzi (2013–2018), Maurizio Martina (2018), Nicola Zingaretti (2019–2021), Enrico Letta (2021–2023), Elly Schlein (2023–present)

Deputy Secretary: Dario Franceschini (2007–2009), Enrico Letta (2009–2013), Lorenzo Guerini (2014–2017), Debora Serracchiani (2014–2017), Maurizio Martina (2017–2018), Andrea Orlando (2019–2021), Paola De Micheli (2019), Irene Tinagli (2021–2023), Peppe Provenzano (2021–2023)

Coordinator of the Secretariat: Goffredo Bettini (2007–2009), Maurizio Migliavacca (2009–2013), Luca Lotti (2013–2014), Lorenzo Guerini (2014–2018), Matteo Mauri (2018), Andrea Martella (2019–2021), Marco Meloni (2021–2023), Marta Bonafoni (2023–present)

Organizational Secretary: Giuseppe Fioroni (2007–2009), Maurizio Migliavacca (2009), Nico Stumpo (2009–2013), Davide Zoggia (2013–2013), Luca Lotti (2013–2014), Lorenzo Guerini (2014–2017), Andrea Rossi (2017–2018), Gianni Dal Moro (2018–2019), Stefano Vaccari (2019–2023), Igor Taruffi (2023–present)

Spokesperson: Andrea Orlando (2008–2013), Lorenzo Guerini (2013–2014), Alessia Rotta (2014–2017), Matteo Richetti (2017–2018), Marianna Madia (2018)

Treasurer: Mauro Agostini (2007–2009), Antonio Misiani (2009–2013), Francesco Bonifazi (2013–2019), Luigi Zanda (2019–2020), Walter Verini (2020–2023), Michele Fina (2023–present)

President: Romano Prodi (2007–2008), Anna Finocchiaro (acting; she was never elected party president but presided over meetings after Prodi's resignation 2008–2009), Rosy Bindi (2009–2013), Gianni Cuperlo (2013–2014), Matteo Orfini (2014–2019), Paolo Gentiloni (2019), Valentina Cuppi (2020–2023), Stefano Bonaccini (2023–present)

Vice President: Marina Sereni (2009–2013), Ivan Scalfarotto (2009–2013), Matteo Ricci (2013–2017), Sandra Zampa (2013–2017), Domenico De Santis (2017–2019), Barbara Pollastrini (2017–2019), Anna Ascani (2019–2023), Debora Serracchiani (2019–2023), Loredana Capone (2023–present), Chiara Gribaudo (2023–present)