Christian Democracy--Italian Style

Thanks to Rick for the ref to the TOUCHSTONE article on Christian Democratic parties in Europe, a topic of great interest to me. The description the article provides of those parties' ideological premises sounds accurate. It is important to recognize, however, that there were important national variations. Of particular interest, I think, is the peculiar Italian variation. For over 40 years the Italian state and the Christian Democratic party (CDP) were almost synonymous. No government was possible without it, and wielded enormous power. To be sure, it had a strong infusion of Catholic ideology. It had a kind of Catholic Social Thought wing which emphasized the importance of moderating the effects of capitalism and the other premises Rick summarized; Azione Cattolica, the most important Catholic org in Italy, was a crucial source of both political strength and ideas. Other ancillary organizations had a strong Catholic character, such as the Coldiretti, a group that represented the interests of peasant farmers, and emphasized the family as the primary component of society (still around),
as well as Catholic business and agricultural cooperatives and workers' unions). The CDP also, for much of its history, reflected Catholic views regarding divorce and popular culture. Unfortunately, the CDP, particularly after the economic boom of the late 1950's and 1960's, became a deeply corrupt organization, totally distorted by its own enormous power. The virtual identification of party and state, particularly in the South, accentuated the inherent weakness of Italian civil society, turned clientalism (long an Italian specialty) into an endemic disease, and turned the party-dominated state corporations into black holes. Ironically, the greater strength of the Communist Party in Italy than in any other Western European country, had the effect of maximizing CDP power and ultimately corruption, because millions (especially serious Catholics) turned to it as the principle bulwark against communism. Anti communism was one of the party's dominant ideologies; but fear of the Communists' real power, especially in Sicily fueled an unholy alliance with the Mafia. The endless series of corruption scandals at the highest levels of Italian government and society over thye last 50 years resulted from a variety of social and civic pathologies in Italy, but they all involved a Christian Democratic party that had lost its Catholic soul, despite its rhetoric. The CDP's heir today is Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia! party ("Let's Go, Italy!"), which doesn't even pretend to be inspired by the Catholic social thought tradition. Ony Italy's profound left/right division would allow such a party continuing influence (even though it --barely-- lost the last election. Those interested in these matters should see two marvelous (and angry) books by the historian Paul Ginsborg, A HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ITALY, 1943-1980 and ITALY AND ITS DISCONTENTS (continuing the strory after 1980). Alexander Stille's recent book, THE SACK OF ROME shows how Berlusconi picked up where the CDP left off, and his earlier EXCELLENT CADAVERS tells the sad story of the Christian Democratic Party's deep involvement with thye Sicilian Mafia.
But Rick raises an interesting question -- other European CDPs, and the Italian one in its better moments, represented a distinctive Christian/Catholic view of politics that never had any traction in the US. Why? A subject for another post....

-- Mark