1976 Italian general election

none August 2024 1976 Italian general election Italy legislative no 1972 Italian general election 1972 Legislature VI of Italy 1979 Italian general election 1979 Legislature VII of Italy All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies316 seats needed for a majorityAll 315 elective seats in the Senate162 seats needed for a majoritytaking into account the Senators for life, which accounted for 7 seats at the time the election took place 20 June 1976 40,426,658 (C Chamber of Deputies)34,928,214 (S Senate) 37,755,090 (C Chamber of Deputies)93.4% (0.2 pp) 32,621,581 (S Senate)93.4% (0.1 pp) Benigno Zaccagnini.jpg 120 120 160 Benigno Zaccagnini 21 July 1975 Christian Democracy (Italy) Bologna (C Chamber of Deputies) 263 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 135 (S Senate) 3 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 0 (S Senate) 14,218,298 (C Chamber of Deputies) 12,227,353 (S Senate) 38.7% (C Chamber of Deputies) 38.8% (S Senate) 0.0 pp (C Chamber of Deputies) 0.7 pp (S Senate) Enrico Berlinguer 1976.jpg 120 120 160 Enrico Berlinguer 17 March 1972 Italian Communist Party Rome (C Chamber of Deputies) 227 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 116 (S Senate) 48 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 22 (S Senate) 12,622,728 (C Chamber of Deputies) 10,637,772 (S Senate) 34.4% (C Chamber of Deputies) 33.8% (S Senate) 7.3 pp (C Chamber of Deputies) 7.2 pp (S Senate) Francesco De Martino.jpg 120 120 160 Francesco De Martino 13 March 1971De Martino also served as secretary from 1963 to 1968 and from 1969 to 1970. Italian Socialist Party Naples (C Chamber of Deputies) 57 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 29 (S Senate) 8 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 4 (S Senate) 3,542,998 (C Chamber of Deputies) 3,208,164 (S Senate) 9.6% (C Chamber of Deputies) 10.2% (S Senate) 0.4 pp (C Chamber of Deputies) 0.5 pp (S Senate) Giorgio Almirante 1976.jpg 120 120 160 Giorgio Almirante 29 June 1969Almirante also served as secretary from 1948 to 1950. Italian Social Movement Rome (C Chamber of Deputies) 35 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 15 (S Senate) 21 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 11 (S Senate) 2,238,339 (C Chamber of Deputies) 2,086,430 (S Senate) 6.1% (C Chamber of Deputies)6.6% (S Senate) 2.6 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)2.6 pp (S Senate) Pier Luigi Romita 1976.jpg 120 120 160 Pier Luigi Romita 10 October 1976 Italian Democratic Socialist Party Turin (C Chamber of Deputies) 15 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 6 (S Senate) 14 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 5 (S Senate) 1,239,492 (C Chamber of Deputies) 974,940 (S Senate) 3.4% (C Chamber of Deputies) 3.1% (S Senate) 0.5 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)2.3 pp (S Senate) Oddo Biasini.jpg 120 120 160 Oddo Biasini 2 March 1975 Italian Republican Party Bologna (C Chamber of Deputies) 14 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 6 (S Senate) 1 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 1 (S Senate) 1,135,546 (C Chamber of Deputies) 846,415 (S Senate) 3.1% (C Chamber of Deputies) 2.7% (S Senate) 0.2 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)0.4 pp (S Senate) 450px 450px Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate. Prime Minister Prime Minister after the election Aldo Moro Christian Democracy (Italy) Giulio Andreotti Christian Democracy (Italy) The 1976 Italian general election was held in Italy on 20 June 1976.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1048 978-3-8329-5609-7 It was the first election after the voting age was lowered to 18. Christian Democracy (DC) won roughly the same number of votes as it had four years prior. The Italian Communist Party performed well, winning seven percent more votes than the previous election, while minor parties lost votes to the Christian Democrats due to fears of communism. The historic Italian Liberal Party was nearly annihilated. Two new parties made their debut in this election: the liberal Radical Party, which had led a successful referendum on divorce, and the far-left Trotskyist Proletarian Democracy. Electoral system The pure party-list proportional representation had traditionally become the electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies. Italian provinces were united in 32 constituencies, each electing a group of candidates. At constituency level, seats were divided between open lists using the largest remainder method with Imperiali quota. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at the national level, where they were divided using the Hare quota, and automatically distributed to best losers into the local lists. For the Senate, 237 single-seat constituencies were established. Candidates could be elected in such constituencies by winning a supermajorityAugust 2024 of votes.August 2024 The only candidates elected this way were German minority candidates in South Tyrol. All remaining votes and seats were grouped in party lists and regional constituencies, where a D'Hondt method was used: on the lists, candidates with the best percentages were elected. Historical background Although the 1970s in Italy was marked by violence, it was also a time of great social and economic progress. Following the civil disturbances of the 1960s, Christian Democracy and its allies in government (including the Socialist Party) introduced a wide range of political, social, and economic reforms. Regional governments were introduced in the spring of 1970, with elected councils provided with the authority to legislate in areas like public works, town planning, social welfare, and health. Spending on the relatively poor South was significantly increased, while new laws relating to index-linked pay, public housing, and pension provision were also passed. In 1975, a law was passed entitling redundant workers to receive at least 80% of their previous salary for up to a year from a state insurance fund.The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796 by Christopher Duggan Living standards also continued to rise, with wages going up by an average of about 25% a year from the early 1970s onwards, and between 1969 and 1978, average real wages rose by 72%. Various fringe benefits were raised to the extent that they amounted to an additional 50% to 60% on wages, the highest in any country in the Western world. In addition, working hours were reduced so that by the end of the decade they were lower than any other country apart from Belgium. Some categories of workers who were laid off received generous unemployment compensation which represented only a little less than full wages, often years beyond eligibility. Initially, these benefits were primarily enjoyed by industrial workers in northern Italy where the “Hot Autumn” had its greatest impact, but these benefits soon spread to other categories of workers in other areas. In 1975, the escalator clause was strengthened in wage contracts, providing a high proportion of workers with nearly 100% indexation, with quarterly revisions, thereby increasing wages nearly as fast as prices. A statute of worker’s rights that was drafted and pushed into enactment in 1970 by the Socialist Labour minister Giacomo Brodolini, greatly strengthened the authority of the trade unions in the factories, outlawed dismissal without just cause, guaranteed freedom of assembly and speech on the shop floor, forbade employers to keep records of the union or political affiliations of their workers, and prohibited hiring except through the state employment office.Italy, a difficult democracy: a survey of Italian politics by Frederic Spotts and Theodor Wieser In 1973, the Italian Communist Party's General Secretary Enrico Berlinguer launched a proposal for a "democratic alliance" with the Christian Democracy, embraced by Aldo Moro. This alliance was inspired by the Allende Government in Chile, that was composed by a left-wing coalition Popular Unity and supported by the Christian Democratic Party. After the Chilean coup of the same year, there was an approach between PCI and DC, that became a political alliance in 1976. In this time, the Berlinguer's PCI attempted to distance his party from the USSR, with the launch of "Eurocommunism" along with the Spanish Communist Party and the French Communist Party. In July 1975, a Christian leftist, Benigno Zaccagnini, became the new Secretary of Christian Democracy. Parties and leaders Party Ideology LeaderSeats in 1972C Chamber of DeputiesS Senate of the RepublicTotal Christian Democracy (DC) Christian democracy Benigno Zaccagnini 266 135 401 Italian Communist Party (PCI) Eurocommunism Enrico Berlinguer 179 94 273 Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Democratic socialism Francesco De Martino 61 33 94 Italian Social Movement (MSI) Neo-fascism Giorgio Almirante 56 26 82 Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) Social democracy Pier Luigi Romita 29 11 40 Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Conservative liberalism Valerio Zanone 21 8 29 Italian Republican Party (PRI) Liberalism Oddo Biasini 15 5 20 Radical Party (PR) Radicalism Marco PannellaDid not contest Proletarian Democracy (DP) Trotskyism Mario CapannaNew Results Faced with the rise of the PCI, many centrist politicians and businessmen began to think how to avoid the possibility of a Communist victory that could turn Italy into a Soviet-aligned State. The DC leadership thought to gradually involve the Communists in governmental policies so as to moderate their aims, as had been done with the Socialists previously. The man who was chosen to lead this attempt did not belong to the leftist wing of the DC, as had happened with the PSI moderation effort, but the moderate leader and former-PM Giulio Andreotti, so as to balance the situation and calm the markets. The first government reliant on support from the communists was thus formed, when the PCI decided to grant its external support. However this process, called National Solidarity, was dramatically ended by the terrorist attacks of the Red Brigades, which saw the kidnapping and murder of former-PM Aldo Moro. The country was shocked by these killings, and the Communists returned to full opposition. Giulio Andreotti's subsequent attempt to form a classic centre-left government with the Socialists failed, and a new general election was called for 1979. Chamber of Deputies + ← Summary of the 20 June 1976 Chamber of Deputies election results → center|300pxPartyVotes%Seats+/−Christian Democracy (DC)14,209,51938.71262−4Italian Communist Party (PCI)12,614,65034.37228+49Italian Socialist Party (PSI)3,540,3099.6457−4Italian Social Movement (MSI)2,238,3396.1035−21Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI)1,239,4923.3815−14Italian Republican Party (PRI)1,135,5463.0914−1Proletarian Democracy (DP)557,0251.526NewItalian Liberal Party (PLI)480,1221.315−15Radical Party (PR)394,4391.074NewSouth Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)184,3750.503±0PCI – PSI – PdUP26,7480.071±0Others87,0140.240±0Invalid/blank votes1,045,512–––Total37,755,090100630±0Registered voters/turnout40,426,65893.39––Source: Ministry of the Interior Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 38.71 PCI Italian Communist Party 34.37 PSI Italian Socialist Party 9.64 MSI-DN Italian Social Movement 6.10 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 3.38 PRI Italian Republican Party 3.09 DP Proletarian Democracy 1.52 PLI Italian Liberal Party 1.31 PR Radical Party (Italy) 1.07 Others Other 0.81 Seats #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 41.59 PCI Italian Communist Party 36.19 PSI Italian Socialist Party 9.05 MSI-DN Italian Social Movement 5.56 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 2.38 PRI Italian Republican Party 2.22 DP Proletarian Democracy 0.95 PLI Italian Liberal Party 0.79 PR Radical Party (Italy) 0.63 Others Other 0.63 Results by constituency ConstituencyTotalseatsSeats wonDCPCIPSIMSI-DNPSDIPRIDPPLIPROthersTurin3813154111111Cuneo16751111Genoa22892111Milan5219196212111Como19952111Brescia21125211Mantua8431Trentino94113Verona281663111Venice168521Udine136421Bologna277142112Parma1961021Florence15591Pisa14671Siena9351Ancona167711Perugia124611Rome5519204522111L'Aquila147511Campobasso431Naples39151434111Benevento1895121Bari23108221Lecce188622Potenza8431Catanzaro2310832Catania2912824111Palermo251272211Cagliari167711Aosta Valley11Trieste321Total630262228573515146544 Senate of the Republic + ← Summary of the 20 June 1976 Senate of the Republic election results → center|300pxPartyVotes%Seats+/−Christian Democracy (DC)12,227,35338.88135±0Italian Communist Party (PCI)10,637,77233.83116+22Italian Socialist Party (PSI)3,208,16410.2029−4Italian Social Movement (MSI)2,086,4306.6315−11Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI)974,9403.106−5Italian Republican Party (PRI)846,4152.696+1Italian Liberal Party (PLI)438,2651.392−6PLI – PRI – PSDI334,8981.062±0Radical Party (PR)265,9470.850NewSouth Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)158,5840.502±0Proletarian Democracy (DP)78,1700.250NewPCI – PSI52,9220.171+1PLI – PRI51,3530.160±0DC – RV – UV – UVP – PRI22,9170.071±0Others65,3010.220±0Invalid/blank votes1,888,027–––Total32,621,581100315±0Registered voters/turnout34,928,21493.4––Source: Ministry of the Interior Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 38.88 PCI Italian Communist Party 33.83 PSI Italian Socialist Party 10.20 MSI Italian Social Movement 6.63 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 3.10 PRI Italian Republican Party 2.69 PLI Italian Liberal Party 1.39 Others Other 3.28 Seats #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 42.86 PCI Italian Communist Party 36.83 PSI Italian Socialist Party 9.21 MSI Italian Social Movement 4.76 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1.90 PRI Italian Republican Party 1.90 PLI Italian Liberal Party 0.63 Others Other 1.90 Results by constituency ConstituencyTotalseatsSeats wonDCPCIPSIMSIPSDIPRIPLIOthersPiedmont2510921111Aosta Valley11Lombardy48211662111Trentino-Alto Adige73112Veneto2314621Friuli-Venezia Giulia7421Liguria104411Emilia-Romagna2271221Tuscany2071021Umbria7241Marche844Lazio2710102311Abruzzo743Molise211Campania2912102311Apulia209722Basilicata7331Calabria115411Sicily261182311Sardinia8431Total31513511629156626 Maps 550px|centerSeat distribution by constituency for the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right). Foreign involvement The rise of the PCI sparked significant concerns among Italy's NATO allies about a communist government in Italy.16 June 1976 U.S. Role Again Becomes An Election Issue in Italy https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/16/archives/us-role-again-becomes-an-election-issue-in-italy.html Shuster Alvin 3 October 2022 The New York Times Through the Information Research Department (IRD), the British Foreign Office took several measures to prevent a PCI victory, including sending journalists anti-communist lines to use in their articles and circulating forged RIA Novosti pamphlets to bolster claims that the Soviet Union was interfering in the election.2 October 2022 Revealed: the secret British plan to keep Italy’s communists from power https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/02/revealed-the-secret-british-plan-to-keep-italys-communists-from-power Oliver James 3 October 2022 The Guardian Notes References 1976 General election Category:June 1976 in Europe