The Party, its "correnti" and its Territorial Rootedness

The essay surveys the historiographical discussion on the organizational structure of the Christian Democracy Party from its foundation until its dissolution and analyses the debate the historians have been conducting since the 1970s. They have focused, in particular, on the party’s internal factions (correnti) underlining the different conceptions of the party respectively endorsed by the leading Christian Democrats. Such factions developed, among others, as a consequence of the party leaders’ local rootedness. The most exemplary case is the largest faction in Lazio, so-called "Primavera", inspired by Giulio Andreotti in his electoral constituency. Through the support of local districts’ delegates, the leaders of "Primavera" strengthened their position within the Christian Democratic party, which was becoming pivotal to the political system as a whole. Recent studies on the DC point out the interweaving of the national political dimension, the Christian Democracy’s central position and the role of its leaders at territorial level. These studies ultimately reveal the utmost importance of the latter to understand the role of the DC within Italian society.

Keywords: Christian Democracy, political party, faction, leader, consent, historiography

Tommaso Baris, Partito, correnti e radicamento territoriale in "MONDO CONTEMPORANEO" 2-3/2018, pp 193-205, DOI: 10.3280/MON2018-002016