The Social Democracy party ( it, Democrazia Sociale), officially it, Partito Democratico Sociale Italiano, label=none (PDSI), was a

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

and

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

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 ...

History

The Social Democracy party was formed for the 1919 general election by the union of the

Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...

with several other parties of the liberal left. In that occasion the party, that was especially strong in

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, gained 10.9% of the vote and 60 seats in the

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 Bourbon R ...

. Four years later, in 1921 general election the party won only 4.7% of the vote and 29 seats.Piergiorgio Corbetta; Maria Serena Piretti, ''Atlante storico-elettorale d'Italia'', Zanichelli,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

2009 In January 1922 the "National Council of Social Democracy and Radicalism" was officially created; this event is considered the date of the party official formation and of the dissolution of the

Italian Radical Party The Italian Radical Party ( it, Partito Radicale Italiano), also known as the Historical Radical Party (''Partito Radicale storico''), was a radical, republican, secularist and social-liberal political party in Italy. History Since 1877, t ...

. The main party's founders were Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò,

Arturo Labriola Arturo Labriola (; 21 January 1873 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist and socialist politician and journalist. Biography Early political activity (until 1897) Labriola was born in Naples on 21 January 1873 to Luigi ...

and

Ettore Sacchi Ettore Sacchi (31 May 1851 – 6 April 1924) was an Italian lawyer and politician. He was one of the founders and main leaders of the Italian Radical Party. Biography Ettore Sacchi was born in Cremona in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia on 31 Ma ...

. After the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fa ...

, the party took part to the governments of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

until July 1924. It gained only 1.6% of votes in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of the same year and Antonio Colonna di Cesarò took part to the Aventine Secession. The party was disbanded by the regime in 1926, as all the other parties. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

some of its members joined the

Labour Democratic Party The Labour Democratic Party ( it, Partito Democratico del Lavoro), previously known as Labour Democracy (), was a social-democratic and social-liberal political party in Italy, founded in 1943 as the heir of defunct Italian Reformist Socialist P ...

, a centre-left outfit.

Electoral results

References

{{Authority control 1922 establishments in Italy 1926 disestablishments in Italy Defunct political parties in Italy Political parties established in 1922 Political parties disestablished in 1926 Radical parties in Italy Banned political parties in Italy