'Veniamo Da Lontano E Andiamo Lontano': the Italian Left and The
Bulletin of Italian Politics Vol. 1, No. 2, 2009, 211-32 ‘Veniamo da Lontano e Andiamo Lontano’: The Italian Left and the Problem of Transition Phil Edwards Manchester Metropolitan University Abstract: A key challenge for the Italian Left is the problematic of ‘transition’: the enduring perception that Italy has not yet attained a state of democratic normality. The Left has suffered a series of setbacks and crises since the formation of the Democratic Party (Partito Democratico, PD) in 2007, thanks in large part to the adoption by PD leader Walter Veltroni of a novelty-oriented strategy which failed to address the ‘transition’ agenda. Veltroni’s successor, Pierluigi Bersani, has mobilised a formidable nationwide coalition of support for a more conservative approach, cutting across the ideological divisions which persist within the PD. However, Veltroni’s strategy has created enduring problems for his party, including the effective delegitimation of the far Left; only when this is remedied will a revival of the broader Left, and a successful engagement with the problems of transition, become possible . Keywords: Italian politics, Democratic Party, transition, democratic consolidation, Second Republic, post-Communist parties. Introduction 2009 was a disastrous year for the Italian Left, within and outside the Democratic Party (Partito Democratico, PD). In this paper I relate the difficulties faced by the Italian Left to the short-term effects of Walter Veltroni’s leadership of the PD, and to the longer-term perspective of a ‘transition’ from the First Republic to a state of democratic normality – a perspective closely connected with the prospects for the PD. I argue, firstly, that Veltroni’s strategy as leader was dangerously mistaken, causing long- term damage to the prospects of the Left and the PD itself.
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