The Partito Democratico: A Troubled Beginning

TL;DRAbstract

Writing in this annual two years ago, Marc Lazar discussed the birth of the Partito Democratico (PD, Democratic Party). Like many births, that of the PD was characterized by trepidation and optimism in similar doses. Yet the party was in government and had, in Walter Veltroni, a leader who was backed by an overwhelming majority of party sympathizers. Two years later, the PD is in much poorer health. It is now out of government, has performed badly in sub-national and European elections, and has a new leader, Pierluigi Bersani, who does not command the support of an overwhelming majority and may indeed antagonize some of the party’s right-leaning members. The PD is either a sickly child or, in the recent judgment of Francesco Rutelli, was never actually born at all.

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