The Free Foundation (''Free Foundation'', FREE) is a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

within

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, a

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

. Although most of its leading members are former members of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

and thus have

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

roots, the group expresses

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 ...

and

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

stances. The core proposals of the association are

free market In economics, a free market is an economic 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 government or any o ...

, small government,

subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

fiscal federalism As a subfield of public economics, fiscal federalism is concerned with "understanding which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government" (Oates, 1999). In other words, ...

. The Foundation was launched in 2000 by

Renato Brunetta Renato Brunetta (born 15 May 1950) is an Italian economist and politician. He was the Minister of Public Administration and Innovation from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011 in the Berlusconi government, and he is, once again, the minister for Pu ...

, minister of Public Administration in

Berlusconi IV Cabinet The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th government of Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy of the Italian Re ...

, and

Franco Frattini Franco Frattini (14 March 1957 – 24 December 2022) was an Italian politician and magistrate. From January to December 2022, Frattini served as president of the Council of State. Frattini previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

, minister of Foreign Affairs. Other leading members are

Giuliano Cazzola People with the Italian given name or surname Giuliano () have included: In arts and entertainment Surname * Geoffrey Giuliano, American author * Maurizio Giuliano, writer and Guinness-record-holding traveler Given name * Giuliano Gemma, actor * ...

Giorgio Stracquadanio Giorgio Clelio Stracquadanio (22 March 1959 – 31 January 2014) was an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Born in Milan, Stracquadanio began his political career in the 1980s as an activist for the Radical Party in Milan with the mun ...

Arturo Diaconale Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1959), Mexican footballer *Arthuro Henrique Bernhardt (b. 1982), Br ...

and

Davide Giacalone Davide is an Italian given name (common) and an Italian/Filipino surname (relatively rare), and may refer to: Given name * Davide Alviti (born 1996), Italian basketball player * Davide Ancilotto (1974–1997), Italian basketball player * Davide As ...

. The group regularly issues many books in collaboration with '' Libero'' and '' Il Giornale'', two leading centre-right newspapers, edited by

Maurizio Belpietro Maurizio Belpietro (born 10 May 1958) is an Italian journalist and television presenter. Biography Belpietro was born in Castenedolo, near Brescia, but he grew up in the town of Palazzolo sull'Oglio. He started his career as a journalist writing ...

and

Vittorio Feltri Vittorio Feltri ( Bergamo, born 25 June 1943) is an Italian journalist and editor in chief of daily ''Libero''. Biography Feltri was born in Bergamo, Italy. He graduated with a degree in Political Science and then started his career as journa ...

respectively.

Leadership

*President:

(2000–2008),

Canio Zampaglione Canio is a name. Notable people with this name include: * Canio of Atella, also known as San Canio and Saint Canius * Cristián Canío (born 1981), Chilean football player * Luigi De Canio (born 1957), Italian football player * Paolo Di Canio (born ...

(2008–2010),

Rodolfo Ridolfi Rodolfo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Rodolfo (footballer, born 1992), Brazilian footballer Rodolfo José da Silva Bardella *Rodolfo Albano III, Filipino politician * Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (1928-2012), Filipino actor a ...

(2010–2012), Bruno Bernardi (2012–present)

References

External links

Official website
{{Forza Italia (2013) factions Organisations associated with The People of Freedom