Proletarian Democracy
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode = {{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}
| native_name = Democrazia Proletaria
| logo = Democrazia Proletaria.png
| leader1_title = General Secretary
| leader1_name = Mario Capanna
Giovanni Russo Spena
| abbreviation = DP
| foundation = 1975 (as coalition)
13 April 1978 (as party)
| dissolution = 9 June 1991
| split = Proletarian Unity Party
| merged = Communist Refoundation Party
| newspaper = Quotidiano dei lavoratori
| membership = max: 10,310 (1988)
min: 2,500 (1979)
| ideology = Communism{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/democrazia-proletaria_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/|title = Treccani - la cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere}}
TrotskyismGli ultimi Mohicani. Una storia di Democrazia Proletaria, Matteo Pucciarelli, 2011
Eco-socialism{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/democrazia-proletaria_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/|title = Treccani - la cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere}}
Pacifism{{Cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/democrazia-proletaria_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/|title = Treccani - la cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere}}
| position = Far-left{{cite book|author1=Geoff Eley|title=Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTT3NTVgNgsC&dq=proletarian+democracy+italy+radical+left&pg=PT642|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199878772}}{{cite book|author1=Paul Furlong|title=Modern Italy: Representation and Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNsOl65D0AC&dq=proletarian+democracy+italy+left&pg=PA5|year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781134979837|page=5}}
| international =
| europarl = Technical Group of Independents (1979–84)
Rainbow Group (1984–89)
Green Group (1989–94)
| colours = {{Color box|{{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}|border=darkgray}} Red
| website = {{URL|democraziaproletaria.it}}
| country = Italy
}}
{{Communism in Italy|expanded=Defunct organisations}}
Proletarian Democracy ({{langx|it|Democrazia Proletaria}}, DP) was a far-left political party in Italy.
History
=1970s=
DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of the Proletarian Unity Party (PdUP), Workers Vanguard (AO) and the "Workers Movement for Socialism" (MLS), for the 1975 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 by journalist Vittorio Foa and Silvano 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 charismatic Mario Capanna, a former student leader associated with the 1968 New Left movement.
The strongholds of DP were the industrial cities of Northern Italy, which had strong leftist traditions. DP was opposed to the so-called 'historic compromise' between the Italian Communist Party and the Christian Democrats.
During the 1978 electoral campaign, Peppino Impastato, a leading DP member from Sicily, was murdered by the Mafia.
In the 1979 elections for the European Parliament, DP won 1 seat in the Technical Group of Independents group.
=1980s=
In the 1983 Italian general election DP won 542,039 votes (1.47%) and 7 seats in the election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the 1987 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, and Giovanni 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 the European Parliament, in association with leading Radicals, called the Rainbow Greens.
=1990s=
On 9 June 1991 the congress of DP in Riccione decided to merge the party into the Communist Refoundation Movement, which became the Communist Refoundation Party.{{cite book|editor=Gino Moliterno|title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wOGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA238|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-75877-7|page=238}}
Election results
=Italian Parliament=
| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" |
| colspan=6|Chamber of Deputies |
| width=13%|Election year
! width=16%|Votes ! width=6%|% ! width=1%|Seats ! width=8%|+/− ! width=19%|Leader |
|---|
| 1976
| 557,025 (7th) | 1.5 | {{Composition bar|6|630|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1979
| 294,462 (10th) | 0.8{{efn|Ran as "New United Left". The Proletarian Unity Party, part of DP in 1976, ran separately and obtained 502,247 votes, 1.4% of the vote and 6 seats.}} | {{Composition bar|0|630|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{decrease}} 6}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1983
| 542,039 (9th) | 1.5 | {{Composition bar|7|630|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{increase}} 7}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1987
| 641,901 (11th) | 1.7 | {{Composition bar|8|630|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{increase}} 1}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
{{Notelist}}
| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" |
| colspan=6|Senate of the Republic |
| width=13%|Election year
! width=16%|Votes ! width=6%|% ! width=1%|Seats ! width=8%|+/− ! width=19%|Leader |
|---|
| 1976
| 78,170 (11th) | 0.3 | {{Composition bar|0|315|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1979
| 410,048 (9th) | 1.3{{efn|Ran as "New United Left", in most constituencies in alliance with the Radical Party.}} | {{Composition bar|0|315|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1983
| 327,750 (10th) | 1.1 | {{Composition bar|0|315|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1987
| 493,667 (11th) | 1.5 | {{Composition bar|1|315|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{increase}} 1}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
{{Notelist}}
=European Parliament=
| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" |
| colspan=6|European Parliament |
| width=13%|Election year
! width=16%|Votes ! width=6%|% ! width=1%|Seats ! width=8%|+/− ! width=19%|Leader |
|---|
| 1979
| 252,342 (10th) | 0.7 | {{Composition bar|1|81|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1984
| 506,753 (8th) | 1.4 | {{Composition bar|1|81|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1989
| 449,639 (10th) | 1.3 | {{Composition bar|1|81|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Giovanni Russo Spena}} |
=Regional elections=
| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid" |
| colspan=6|Regions of Italy |
| width=13%|Election year
! width=16%|Votes ! width=6%|% ! width=1%|Seats ! width=8%|+/− ! width=19%|Leader |
|---|
| 1975
| 271,216 (8th) | 0.9 | {{Composition bar|4|720|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|–}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1980
| 274,100 (9th) | 0.9 | {{Composition bar|2|720|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{Decrease}} 2}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1985
| 470,626 (9th) | 1.5 | {{Composition bar|9|720|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{Increase}} 7}} | {{center|Mario Capanna}} |
| 1990
| 308,650 (13th) | 1.0 | {{Composition bar|4|720|hex={{party color|Proletarian Democracy}}}} | {{center|{{Decrease}} 5}} | {{center|Giovanni Russo Spena}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Communist Refoundation Party}}
{{Historical Italian political parties}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct political parties in Italy
Category:History of the Communist Refoundation Party
Category:Political parties established in 1975
Category:Defunct communist parties in Italy
Category:Political parties disestablished in 1991
Category:1975 establishments in Italy