Religious Parties in a Secularizing Political Space: The Case of Italy

Abstract

The Christian democratic parties in Italy from the end of World War II to 2006 show that while the popularity of religious political parties may diminish due to fewer religious voters, if political institutions facilitate the participation of small parties in government then religious parties can survive, albeit in reduced size. Their political influence may be greater than suggested by their size if they can be a deciding element in a governing coalition's survival. With access to the spoils of office, religious parties are able to distance themselves from the demands of seemingly powerful organized religious interests. Having to compromise with other parties in the government on policy in order to remain in government can also compel a religious party to moderate its platform and even soft-pedal core religious issues. The Christian democratic parties of Italy have, due to ideology and to strategic assessments of security interests, supported Western regional and international security cooperation.

I thank Miriam Fendius Elman, two anonymous reviewers and the editors of Asian Security for helpful comments on drafts of the manuscript. Any errors or controversies of fact or interpretation remain my responsibility. I also thank the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict for research support and Gina Gormley for research assistance.

Notes

1. Those on the Western side of the Cold War division of Europe, as well as neutrals Switzerland and Austria. Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004); Rodney Stark and Laurence R. Iannaccone, “A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of the ‘Secularization’ of Europe,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion Vol. 33, No. 3 (September 1994), pp. 230–252; Luigi Ceccarini, “Fedeli, secolarizzati, irregolari: i cattolici italiani,” Il Mulino 5 (September–October 2005), pp. 852–862.

2. Enzo Pace, “A Peculiar Pluralism,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 12, No. 1 (March 2007), pp. 86–100.

3. For the pre-World War II history of Catholic parties in Italy, see Stathis N. Kalyvas, The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996), and Carolyn M. Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group: the Catholic Church and Political Parties in Post-War Europe (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000), pp. 43–56.

4. Guido Gonella, in 1945, quoted in Partito della Democrazia Cristiana, Congressi Nazionali della DC (Roma: Tip. AGI, 1959), p. 30.

5. Percy Allum, “‘From Two into One’: The Faces of the Italian Christian Democratic Party,” Party Politics Vol. 3, No. 1 (1997), pp. 23–52; Mario Casella, 18 Aprile 1948: la mobilitazione delle organizzazioni cattoliche (Lecce: Congedo, 1992). This is not to say that Catholicism and the Catholic Church have no social or cultural influence in Italy; however, the ability of the Church to dictate party choices to voters is greatly diminished, as is the extent to which Catholicism defines a group of voters which tends to vote for parties on the same side of the political spectrum. Luca Diotallevi, “Internal Competition in a National Religious Monopoly: The Catholic Effect and the Italian Case,” Sociology of Religion Vol. 63, No. 2 (2002), pp. 137–155; Ilvo Diamanti and Luigi Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics after the Christian Democrats: The Influential Minority,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 12, No. 1 (2007), pp. 37–59; Franco Garelli, “The Public Relevance of the Church and Catholicism in Italy,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 12, No. 1 (March 2007), pp. 8–36.

6. Leonardo Morlino, “Crisis of Parties and Change of Party System in Italy,” Party Politics Vol. 2, No. 1 (1996), pp. 5–30.

7. Marco Tarchi, “The Political Culture of the Alleanza Nazionale: An Analysis of the Party's Programmatic Documents (1995–2002),” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 8, No. 2 (2003), pp. 135–181.

8. Italian Constitution, available at www.quirinale.it; W. A. R. Shadid and P. S. van Koningsveld, Religious Freedom and the Position of Islam in Western Europe (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1995), p. 16.

9. Concordato modifica 1984, available at www.uaar.it. Parents are allowed to exempt their students from such instruction.

10. Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group, p. 174.

11. Giuseppe Sala, editorial in Il Popolo, Vol. 3, No. 113, May 16, 1946.

12. In the aftermath of World War II the DC announced that it would be nothing less than “the guarantor of Italian Civilization and Christianity.” General Report, Congresso Nazionale, April 24–28, 1946. Reported in I Congressi Nazionali della DC, pp. 27–28.

13. Maria Romana De Gasperi, ed., De Gasperi Scrive (Brescia: Morcelliana, 1974), Vol. I, p. 346; Pietro Scoppola, La Proposta Politica di De Gasperi, 3rd ed. (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1988), p. 160.

14. De Gasperi, ed., De Gasperi Scrive, p. 273; cf. p. 342.

15. There is an extensive literature on missed opportunities for significant political, economic and social reform in Italy. It is well summarized in Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy. Society and Politics 1943–1988 (London: Penguin, 1990). See also Gianfranco Pasquino, “Italian Politics: No Improvement in Sight,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 12, No. 3 (2007), pp. 273–285.

16. Sandro Magister, La politica vaticana e l'Italia, 1943–1978 (Rome: Riuniti, 1979), p. 41; Jean-Dominique Durand, L'Église Catholique dans la Crise de l'Italie (1943–1948) (Rome: L'École Française de Rome, 1991), p. 638; Scoppola, La Proposta politica, pp. 128–129.

17. Durand, L'Église Catholique, p. 630.

18. Il Popolo, Vol. 1, No. 7, February 27, 1944, p. 1, in Carlo Falconi, “Primo tentativo di una statistica dell'organizzazione cattolica,” Nuovi Argomenti Vol. 12 (1955), pp. 80–110, here at p. 61.

19. DC Congresso Nazionale, April 24–28, 1946, in I Congressi Nazionale, p. 23; Richard A. Webster, The Cross and the Fasces: Christian Democracy and Fascism in Italy (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1960), p. 172. On characterizations of the DC as an “inter-class,” or as a “mass” party, see Sidney G. Tarrow, Between Center and Periphery: Grassroots Politicians in Italy and France (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977). The literature on political parties has also categorized the DC as “mainstream” and as “cartel”; see James Adams, Michael Clark, Lawrence Ezrow, and Garrett Glasgow, “Are Niche Parties Fundamentally Different from Mainstream Parties? The Causes and the Electoral Consequences of Western European Parties' Policy Shifts, 1976–1998,” American Journal of Political Science Vol. 50, No. 3 (July 2006), pp. 513–529; Richard S. Katz and Peter Mair, “Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party,” Party Politics Vol. 1, No. 1 (1995), pp. 5–28.

20. Politica d'Oggi disbanded in 1946 (Jean Paul Chassériaud, Le Parti Démocrate Chrétien en Italie (Paris: Librairie Armand Colin, 1965), pp. 273–274. Dossetti's group sometimes went by the name of its paper, Cronache Sociale. On Gronchi and Dossetti, Chassériaud, Le Parti Démocrate Chrétien en Italie, pp. 275–291. On the DC's other factions, Geoffrey Pridham, Political Parties and Coalitional Behaviour in Italy (London: Routledge, 1988); Alan S. Zuckerman, The Politics of Faction. Christian Democratic Rule in Italy (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979).

21. Among them were very prominent men in post-war Italy: Giulio Andreotti, Aldo Moro, Giovanni Leone, Emilio Colombo, Mario Scelba, Paolo Taviani, and Guido Gonella. Many others filled the ministries. First quote, Webster, Cross and the Fasces, p. 172; Durand, L'Église Catholique, p. 622; Renato Moro, La formazione della classe dirigente cattolica (1929–1937) (Bologna: Il Mulino 1979), pp. 20–22.

22. Carol Mershon, “The Costs of Coalition: Coalition Theories and Italian Governments,” American Political Science Review Vol. 90, No. 3 (September 1996), pp. 534–554, here at p. 541; Ginsborg, A History, pp. 89–112.

23. Durand, L'Église Catholique; Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group, pp. 77–86, 108–110, 168–170.

24. Percy A. Allum, Politics and Society in Post-War Naples (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973); Carolyn M. Warner, “Getting out the Vote with Patronage and Threat,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 28, No. 4 (Spring 1998), pp. 553–582; Renato Mannheimer and Giacomo Sani, Il mercato elettorale. Identikit dell'elettore italiano (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1987).

25. What with the Vatican's presence on Italian soil, and its role in Italian history, the DC had a significantly greater challenge managing its relations with the Catholic Church. Quote from Martin Conway, “The Age of Christian Democracy,” in Thomas Kselman and Joseph A. Buttigieg, eds., European Christian Democracy (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 2003), p. 47.

26. Warner, “Getting out the vote with patronage and threat”; Carolyn M. Warner, “Mass Parties and Clientelism in France andItaly,” in Simona Piattoni, ed., Clientelism and Interests in Transition: The European Experience in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 154–189.

27. Anthony Gill and Erik Lundsgaarde, “State Welfare Spending and Religiosity: A Cross-National Analysis,” Rationality and Society Vol. 16, No. 4 (2004), pp. 399–436; Norris and Inglehart, Sacred and Secular.

28. Paul Ginsborg, A History, p. 350.

29. A 2005/06 survey found that just over a quarter of Italians attend Catholic services regularly. Yet there are other small parties which also can shift governing majorities. For instance, in the 2006 election, had the Autonomous Lombard Alliance, which won 0.1% of the vote, joined the center-right coalition instead of the center-left, the former would have been the winning coalition. Practicing Catholics in 2006 more tended to vote for the right/center-right, with twice as many voting for Forza Italia as for the center-right Christian Democratic party (the Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e dei Democratici di Centro) within the same electoral coalition. Giovanni Innamorati, “Elezioni: La ‘caccia’ ai cattolici dei due poli,” ANSA, April 7, 2006; Aldo Di Virgilio, “Le elezioni in Italia,” Quaderni dell'Osservatorio Elettorale Vol. 56 (December 2006), pp. 167–204, here at 199; Diamanti and Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics after the Christian Democrats”; Paolo Segatti, “I cattolici al voto, tra valori e politiche dei valori,” in Itanes (Italian National Elections Studies), ed., Dov'è la vittoria? Il voto del 2006 raccontato dagli italiani (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2006), pp. 109–126.

30. Marco Tarchi, “The Political Culture of the Alleanza Nazionale: An Analysis of the Party's Programmatic Documents (1995–2002),” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 8, No. 2 (2003), pp. 135–181.

31. Eric Chang, “Electoral Incentives for Political Corruption under Open-List Proportional Representation,” Journal of Politics Vol. 67, No. 3 (2005), pp. 716–730.

32. Mershon, “The Costs of Coalition,” and Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group.

33. There are additional details of the electoral system not pertinent to this article. See Roberto D'Alimonte and Alessandro Chiaramonte, “Proporzionale ma non solo. La riforma elettorale della Casa delle libertà,” Il Mulino 1 (January–February 2006), pp. 34–45; Ilvo Diamanti, “The Italian Centre-right and Centre-left: Between Parties and ‘the Party’,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 733–762 here at p. 734.

34. Stefano Bartolini, Alessandro Chiaramonte, and Roberto D'Alimonte, “The Italian Party System between Parties and Coalitions,” West European Politics Vol. 27, No. 1 (2004), pp. 1–19.

35. Pasquino, “Italian Politics”; Martin Bull and Martin Rhodes, “Italy: A Contested Polity,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 657–669; Martin Bull and Gianfranco Pasquino, “A Long Quest in Vain: Institutional Reforms in Italy,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 670–691; Luciano Bardi, “Electoral Change and its Impact on the Party System in Italy,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 711–732, here at p. 730.

36. Obviously also reducing political violence in Italy is its level of economic development, membership in the EU, and, since World War II, six decades of experience with democracy.

37. Stefano Folli, “Segni: ‘La partita comincia adesso’,” Corriere della Sera, February 23, 1994; James J. Newell and Martin Bull, “Party Organisations and Alliances in Italy in the 1990s: A Revolution of Sorts,” in Martin Bull and Martin Rhodes, eds., Crisis and Transition in Italian Politics (London: Frank Cass, 1997), pp. 81–109, here at p. 93.

38. “Governo costituente” Corriere della Sera, March 2, 1994.

39. Folli, “Segni.”

40. For electoral results, see Stefano Bartolino and Roberto D'Alimonte, “La competizione maggioritaria: le origini elettorali del parlamento diviso,” Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica Vol. 24, No. 3 (December 1994), Table 2.

41. Quoted in Luigi Accattoli, “Wojtyla,” Corriere della Sera, June 27, 1993.

42. Quoted in Luigi Accattoli, “Appoggiate i cristiani,” Corriere della Sera, March 22, 1994.

43. Marco Politi, “E il papa aspettava gli exit poll . . . ,” la Repubblica, March 30, 1994.

44. Quoted in Accattoli, “Appoggiate i cristiani.”

45. “E i vescovi abbandonano Berlusconi,” la Repubblica, August 2, 1994.

46. CDU (Cristiani Democratici Uniti – United Christian Democrats). Diamanti and Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics,” p. 49.

47. Pope John Paul II, quoted in Diamanti and Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics,” p. 46.

48. “Umberto Rosso, D'Antonio: ‘Io rilancio il mio partito dell'unità’,” la Repubblica, September 2, 1994; Marino Regini and Ida Regalia, “Employers, Unions and the State: The Resurgence of Concertation in Italy?,” in Martin Bull and Martin Rhodes, eds., Crisis and Transition in Italian Politics (London: Frank Cass, 1997), pp. 210–230; Vincenzo Saba, Il problema storico della CISL: la cittadinanza sindacale in Italia, nella società civile e nella società politica, 1950–1953 (Rome: Lavoro, 2000).

49. Diamanti and Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics,” p. 47.

50. Eugenio Scalfari, “Buttiglione alle prese con l'ombra di Voltaire,” la Repubblica, July 31, 1994, p. 6; Aldo Di Virgilio, “Dai partiti ai poli: la politica delle alleanze,” in Stefano Bartolini and Roberto D'Alimonte, eds., Maggioritario ma non troppo: Le elezioni politiche del 1994 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995), pp. 177–232, here at pp. 182, 184.

51. Quoted in Gianluca Luzi, “Ppi, Buttiglione in ‘pole position’,” la Repubblica, July 26, 1994.

52. Orazio La Rocca, “Nel Ppi parte la sfida tra Buttiglione e Bianchi,” la Repubblica, July 24, 1994.

53. Alessandro Chiaramonte, “The General Elections of 21 April 1996,” in Roberto D'Alimonte and David Nelken, eds., Italian Politics: The Center-Left in Power (Boulder, CO: Westview Press 1997), pp. 33–50, here at p. 34; Aldo Di Virgilio, “Le alleanze elettorali: identità partitiche e logiche coalizionali,” in Roberto D'Alimonte and Stefano Bartolini, eds., Maggioritario per caso: Le elezioni politiche del 1996 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1997), pp. 71–136, here at pp. 78 and 92–93.

54. Chiaramonte, “General Elections,” p. 36. In 2002, the Margherita recognized the religious roots of some of Italy's democratic values and orientations, but rejected both fundamentalism and atheism. See www.margheritaonline.it (viewed April 6, 2007). The Margherita's 2007 platform makes no mention of Italy's religious, Christian or Catholic heritage and values, stating only that it hopes for collaboration between “peoples, cultures, religions” of the Mediterranean basin in order to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. See www.margheritaonline.it, p. 6. (viewed April 6, 2007).

55. Antonio Segni was Prime Minister in 1955–57 and 1959–60 and President of Italy from 1962 to 1964. He retired from the presidency due to health problems.

56. Quoted in Giovanni Valentini, “‘Rocco, con Silvio no’,” la Repubblica, September 20, 1994; Di Virgilio, “Dai partiti ai poli,” p. 194.

57. Ernesto Galli Della Loggia, “Troppe Anime per i Popolari,” Corriere della Sera, June 19, 1994.

58. Di Virgilio, “Le alleanze elettorale.”

59. Quoted in Bruno Tucci, “Ma i centristi lasciano la vecchia casa,” Corriere della Sera, January 19, 1994.

60. Aldo Di Virgilio, “Dai Partiti ai Poli. La Politica delle Alleanze,” in Stefano Bartolini and Roberto D'Alimonte, eds., Maggioritario ma non troppo. Le elezioni politiche del 1994 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995), pp. 177–232; Di Virgilio, “Le alleanze elettorali,” pp. 74–78; Aldo Di Virgilio, “L'offerta elettorale: la politica delle alleanze si istituzionalizza,” in Roberto D'Alimonte and Stefano Bartolini, eds., Maggioritario Finalmente? La transizione elettorale 1994–2001 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2002), pp. 79–130; Ilvo Diamante, “The Italian Centre-right and Centre-left: Between Parties and ‘the Party’,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 733–762.

61. As Pier Ferdinando Casini said, Gian Antonio Stella, “Rabbiosa agonia della Balena Bianca,” Corriere della Sera, March 30, 1994.

62. Marisa Fagà, quoted in Bruno Tucci, “Ma i centristi lasciano la vecchia casa,” Corriere della Sera, January 19, 1994; Carolyn M. Warner, “The New Catholic Parties: The Popolari, the Patto Segni and the CCD,” in Robert Leonardi, ed., Italian Politics: A Review, Vol. 11 (Aldershot, UK: Dartmouth Publishing Company, 1996), pp. 134–151.

63. Daniela Giannetti and Itai Sened, “Party Competition and Coalition Formation,” Journal of Theoretical Politics Vol. 16, No. 4 (2004), pp. 483–515, here at p.501.

64. It was named the Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e dei Democratici di Centro and abbreviated to UDC. The other two parties were the United Christian Democrats (CDU, Cristiani Democratici Uniti, led by Rocco Buttiglione after he split with the PPI) and European Democracy (DE). In 1996, before the DE was created in 2000, the CCD and the UDC combined won 5.8% of the vote for the Chamber. In 2001 they won only 3.2% of the vote.

65. In 1954, Italy joined the West European Union, a fairly weak security organization. On faithful ally, see Ginsborg, A History, p. 158; cf. H. Stuart Hughes, The United States and Italy, revised ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965).

66. Michael Gehler and Wolfram Kaiser, “Toward a ‘Core Europe’ in a Christian Western Bloc: Transnational Cooperation in European Christian Democracy, 1925–1965,” in Thomas Kselman and Joseph A. Buttigieg, eds., European Christian Democracy. Historical Legacies and Comparative Perspectives (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003), pp. 240–266; Paolo Acanfora, “Myths and the Political Use of Religion in Christian Democratic Culture,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 12, No. 3 (2007), pp. 307–338.

67. Casella, 18 Aprile; Robert A. Ventresca, “The Virgin and the Bear: Religion, Society and the Cold War in Italy,” Journal of Social History Vol. 37, No. 2 (2003), pp. 439–456; Acanfora, “Myths and the Political Use of Religion.”

68. Daniele Ganser, “The Ghost of Machiavelli: An Approach to Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Cold War Italy,” Crime, Law and Social Change Vol. 45 (2006), pp. 111–154.

69. Giuseppe De Lutiis, I servizi segreti in Italia: dal fascismo alla seconda Repubblica (Rome: Riuniti, 1998); Ginsborg, A History, pp. 379–387; Donatella Della Porta, Social Movements, Political Violence and the State: A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).

70. Ginsborg, A History, p. 187.

71. Joseph LaPalombara, Democracy Italian Style (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987); Pasquino, “Italian Politics.”

72. Sylvia Kritzinger, Francesco Cavatorta, and Raj Chari, “Continuity and Change in Party Positions towards Europe in Italian Parties: An Examination of Parties' Manifestos,” Journal of European Public Policy Vol. 11, No. 6 (December 2004), pp. 954–974; Piero Ignazi, “Al di là dell'Atlantico, al di qua dell'Europa. Dove va la politica estera italiana,” Il Mulino Vol. 6, No. 704 (2004), pp. 267–276; Osvaldo Croci, “The ‘Americanization’ of Italian Foreign Policy?” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 10, No. 1 (March 2005), pp. 10–26; Maurizio Carbone, “The Domestic Foundations of Italy's Foreign and Development Policies,” West European Politics Vol. 30, No. 4 (September 2007), pp. 903–923.

73. Robert Leonardi and Paolo Albert, “From Dominance to Doom? Christian Democracy in Italy,” in Steven Van Hecke and Emmanuel Gerard, eds., Christian Democratic Parties in Europe since the End of the Cold War (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2004), pp. 105–131, here at p. 127.

74. Gianfranco Pasquino, “A Tale of Two Parties: Forza Italia and the Left Democrats,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies Vol. 8, No. 2 (2003), pp. 197–215; Gianfranco Pasquino and Patrick McCarthy, eds., The End of Post-War Politics in Italy: The Landmark 1992 Elections (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993).

75. Carolyn M. Warner, The Best System Money Can Buy: Corruption in the European Union (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007); Gianni Barbacetto, Peter Gomez, and Marco Travaglio, Mani Pulite. La vera storia (Rome: Riuniti, 2002); Miriam Golden and Eric C. C. Chang, “Competitive Corruption: Factional Conflict and Political Malfeasance in Postwar Italian Christian Democracy,” World Politics Vol. 53 (July 2001), pp. 588–622; Allum, “‘From Two Into One’”; Donatella Della Porta and Alberto Vannucci, Corruzione Politica e Amministrazione Pubblica (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1994); Allum, Politics and Society.

76. Diamanti and Ceccarini, “Catholics and Politics”; Roberto Cartocci, “Voto, Valori e Religione,” in Mario Caciagli and Piergiorgio Corbetta, eds., Le Ragioni dell'Elettore. Perché ha vinto il centro-destra nelle elezioni italiane del 2001 (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2002), pp. 165–201; Ceccarini, “Fedeli.”