1953 Italian general election

none Written by non-native English speakers, some of the prose is not clear. April 2023 1953 Italian general election Italy legislative no 1948 Italian general election 1948 Legislature I of Italy 1958 Italian general election 1958 Legislature II of Italy All 590 seats in the Chamber of Deputies296 seats needed for a majorityAll 237 elective seats in the Senate122 seats needed for a majoritytaking into account the Senators for life, which accounted for 6 seats at the time the election took place 7 June 1953 30,272,236 (C Chamber of Deputies)27,172,871 (S Senate) 28,406,479 (C Chamber of Deputies)93.8% (1.6 pp) 25,483,201 (S Senate)93.8% (1.6 pp) 160x160px Guido Gonella 16 April 1950 Christian Democracy (Italy) Verona (C Chamber of Deputies) 263 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 112 (S Senate) 57 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 19 (S Senate) 10,862,073 (C Chamber of Deputies) 9,660,210 (S Senate) 40.1% (C Chamber of Deputies)39.8% (S Senate) 8.4 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)8.3 pp (S Senate) Palmiro Togliatti Official (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 Palmiro Togliatti 15 May 1943Togliatti also served as secretary of the Communist Party of Italy from 1926 to 1934 and from 1938 to 1943. Italian Communist Party Rome (C Chamber of Deputies) 143 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 52 (S Senate) 19 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 20 (S Senate) 6,120,809 (C Chamber of Deputies) 4,910,077 (S Senate) 22.6% (C Chamber of Deputies) 20.2% (S Senate) —fdp PCI and PSI ran in a unified list in the 1948 election, named Popular Democratic Front (FDP). Pietro Nenni 1963.jpg 120 120 160 Pietro Nenni 16 May 1949Nenni also served as secretary from 1933 to 1939 and from 1943 to 1945. Italian Socialist Party Rome (C Chamber of Deputies) 75 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 26 (S Senate) 30 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 12 (S Senate) 3,441,014 (C Chamber of Deputies) 2,891,605 (S Senate) 12.7% (C Chamber of Deputies) 11.9% (S Senate) —fdp Alfredo Covelli 1963.jpg 120 120 160 Alfredo Covelli 11 June 1946 Monarchist National Party Benevento (C Chamber of Deputies) 40 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 14 (S Senate) 26 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 10 (S Senate) 1,854,850 (C Chamber of Deputies) 1,581,128 (S Senate) 6.9% (C Chamber of Deputies) 6.5% (S Senate) 4.1 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)4.8 pp (S Senate) Augusto De Marsanich (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 Augusto De Marsanich 10 January 1950 Italian Social Movement L'Aquila (C Chamber of Deputies) 29 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 9 (S Senate) 23 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 8 (S Senate) 1,582,154 (C Chamber of Deputies) 1,473,645 (S Senate) 5.8% (C Chamber of Deputies)6.1% (S Senate) 3.8 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)5.4 pp (S Senate) Giuseppe Saragat daticamera (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 Giuseppe Saragat 7 October 1952Saragat also served as secretary from 1949 to 1952. Italian Democratic Socialist Party Turin (C Chamber of Deputies) 19 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 4 (S Senate) 14 (C Chamber of Deputies) / 4 (S Senate) 1,222,957 (C Chamber of Deputies) 1,046,301 (S Senate) 4.5% (C Chamber of Deputies) 4.3% (S Senate) 2.6 pp (C Chamber of Deputies)0.1 pp (S Senate) 450px Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate. 450px Seat distribution for the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right). Prime Minister Prime Minister after the election Alcide De Gasperi Christian Democracy (Italy) Alcide De Gasperi Christian Democracy (Italy) The 1953 Italian general election was held in Italy on Sunday 7 June 1953.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1048 978-3-8329-5609-7 "Scam law" The election was characterized by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted, the government introduced a superbonus of two thirds of seats in the Chamber of Deputies for the coalition which would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was hugely opposed by the opposition parties as well as the smaller Christian Democracy's coalition partners, which had no realistic chances of success. The new law was called "scam law" by its detractors, including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny the artificial landslide to Christian Democracy. Its parliamentarian exam had a disruptive effect: "Among the iron pots of political forces that faced in the Cold War, Senate cracked as earthenware pot."Buonomo Giampiero Come il Senato si scoprì vaso di coccio L'Ago e Il Filo it 2014 https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89210209 subscription 2012-08-01 2016-03-14 Questia https://web.archive.org/web/20120801002834/http://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89210209 dead Historical background In the 1950s, Italy became a founding member of the NATO alliance (1949), a member of the United Nations (1955) and an ally of the United States, which helped to revive the Italian economy through the Marshall Plan. In the same years, Italy also became a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952) and of the European Economic Community (1957), later developed into the European Union. At the end of the 1950s an impressive economic growth was termed "Economic Miracle". Italian families used their newfound wealth to purchase consumer durables for the first time. Between 1958 and 1965, the percentage of families owning a television rose from 12% to 49%, washing machines from 3% to 23%, and fridges from 13% to 55%. Christian Democracy's main support areas, sometimes known as "vote tanks", were the rural areas in South, Center, and North-East Italy, whereas the industrial North-West had more left-leaning support because of the larger working class. An interesting exception were the "red regions" (Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Umbria) where the Italian Communist Party has historically had a wide support. This is considered a consequence of the particular sharecropping ("mezzadria") farming contracts used in these regions. The Holy See actively supported Christian Democracy, judging it would be a mortal sin for a Catholic to vote for the Communist party and excommunicating all its supporters; however, in practice many Communists remained religious, and Emilia was known to be an area where people were both religious and communists. Giovannino Guareschi wrote his novels about Don Camillo describing a village, Brescello, whose inhabitants are at the same time loyal to priest Camillo and communist mayor Peppone, who are fierce rivals. In 1953, a Parliamentary Commission on poverty estimated that 24% of Italian families were either "destitute" or "in hardship", 21% of dwellings were overcrowded, 52% of homes in the South had no running drinking water, and only 57% had a lavatory.Italy: Library of Nations: Italy, Time-Life Books, 1985 In the 1950s, several important reforms were launched, such as agrarian reform (Scelba law), fiscal reform (Vanoni law), and the country enjoyed a period of economic boom and development (miracolo economico, or "economic miracle"). In this period of time, a massive population transfer, from the impoverished South to the booming industrial North, took place. This exacerbated social contrasts, including between the old-established "worker aristocracy" and the new less qualified immigrants ("operaio-massa") of Southern origin. In addition, a wide gap between rich and poor continued to exist. By the end of the 1960s, it was estimated that 4 million Italians (out of a population of 54.5 million) were unemployed, underemployed, and casual labourers. As noted by the historian Paul Ginsborg, the affluent society to this section of the Italian population "might have meant a television set but precious little else." Parties and leaders Party Ideology LeaderSeats in 1953C Chamber of DeputiesS Senate of the RepublicTotal Christian Democracy (DC) Christian democracy Guido Gonella 305 131 436 Italian Communist Party (PCI) Communism Palmiro Togliatti18372255 Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Democratic socialism Pietro Nenni Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) Social democracy Giuseppe Saragat 33 8 41 Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Conservative liberalism Bruno Villabruna 14 7 21 Monarchist National Party (PNM) Monarchism Alfredo Covelli 14 3 17 Italian Republican Party (PRI) Liberalism Oronzo Reale 9 6 15 Italian Social Movement (MSI) Neo-fascism Augusto De Marsanich 6 1 7 Results The complaint campaign of the oppositions against the "scam law" reached its goal. The centrist coalition (DC, PSDI, PLI, PRI, SVP, and PSd'Az) won 49.9% of the national vote, coming just a few thousand votes short of the threshold for a two-thirds majority; the election resulted in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Minor dissident parties resulted determinant for the final result, especially the short-lived National Democratic Alliance. DC, the leading party, did not repeat the result of five years before, which had been obtained under special conditions linked to the Cold War, and lost a lot of votes to the right wing, which included resurgent Italian Fascist and neo-fascist politicians, particularly in Southern Italy. While the government won the election with a clear working majority of seats in both houses, frustration at the failure to garner the expected supermajority caused big problems for the leading coalition. Alcide De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Italian Parliament on August 2; he retired and died twelve months later. The legislature continued with weak governments, with minor parties refusing institutional responsibilities. Giuseppe Pella rose to power but fell after five months only following strong disputes about the status of the Free Territory of Trieste, which Pella was claiming. Amintore Fanfani not receiving a vote of confidence, Mario Scelba and Antonio Segni followed with more traditional centrist coalitions supported by the PSDI and the PLI; under the administration of the first one, the problem of Trieste was closed ceding Koper to Yugoslavia. The parliamentary term was closed by the minority government chaired by Adone Zoli, finishing a legislature which hugely weakened the office of the Prime Minister, held by six different rulers. Chamber of Deputies File:Italian Chamber of Deputies 1953.svg Centrist coalition 7 Christian Democracy 10862073 263 –41 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1222957 19 –14 Italian Liberal Party 815929 13 –6 Italian Republican Party 438149 5 –4 South Tyrolean People's Party 122474 3 0 Sardinian Action Party 27231 0 –1 Trentino Tyrolean People's Party 1714 0 New Italian Communist Party 6120809 143 +13 Italian Socialist Party 3441014 75 +22 Monarchist National Party 1854850 40 +26 Italian Social Movement 1582154 29 +23 Independent Socialist Union 225409 0 New Popular Unity 171099 0 New National Democratic Alliance 120685 0 New Left-wing independents 21920 0 New Italian Political Centre 14493 0 New Italian National Monarchist Party 8089 0 New Monarchist List 6759 0 New Democratic National Union of Civil Servants 6581 0 New Italian Nettist Party 4305 0 New Socialist Radical Party 3283 0 New Federated National Party 2895 0 New Christian Social Movement 2799 0 New Italian Female Movement 1752 0 New Militant Christian Party 1473 0 New Italian National Movement 1257 0 New Italian Social Unitary Party 1101 0 New National Will Party 1010 0 New Italian Federalist Party 866 0 New Garibaldian Antifascist Partisan Movement of Italy 762 0 New Universal Existentialist Party 716 0 New National Union Party 563 0 New Independents 530 0 New 1318778 +16 30272236 Ministry of the Interiorhttp://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=S&dtel=07/06/1953&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S Ministero dell'Interno: Archivio Storico delle Elezioni - Senato del 7 Giugno 1953 elezionistorico.interno.it https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223814/http://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=S&dtel=07/06/1953&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S 3 March 2016 Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 40.10 PCI Italian Communist Party 22.60 PSI Italian Socialist Party 12.70 PNM Monarchist National Party 6.85 MSI Italian Social Movement 5.84 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 4.51 PLI Italian Liberal Party 3.01 PRI Italian Republican Party 1.62 Others Other 2.77 Seats #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 44.85 PCI Italian Communist Party 24.24 PSI Italian Socialist Party 12.71 PNM Monarchist National Party 6.78 MSI Italian Social Movement 4.92 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 3.22 PLI Italian Liberal Party 2.20 PRI Italian Republican Party 0.85 Others Other 0.81 By constituency ConstituencyTotalseatsSeats wonDCPCIPSIPNMMSIPSDIPLIPRIOthersTurin261174121Cuneo16832111Genoa178531Milan3616871121Como159231Brescia1913231Mantua10523Trentino853Verona281744111Venice1610231Udine1592211Bologna22710311Parma197831Florence13562Pisa13652Siena10352Ancona15843Perugia114331Rome381510334111L'Aquila1474111Campobasso5311Naples311272721Benevento20841511Bari2296241Lecce1684121Potenza7421Catanzaro251163221Catania251062331Palermo25116233Cagliari1474111Aosta Valley11National3765456533Total590263143744029191353 Senate of the Republic File:Italian Senate 1953.svg Christian Democracy 9660210 112 −19 Italian Communist Party 4910077 52 +6 Italian Socialist Party 2891605 26 −15 Monarchist National Party 1581128 14 +10 Italian Social Movement 1473645 9 +8 Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1046301 4 −4 Italian Liberal Party 695816 3 −4 Italian Republican Party 261713 0 −4 Popular Unity 172545 0 New National Democratic Alliance 165845 1 New South Tyrolean People's Party 107139 2 0 Autonomy Aosta – Peace 16873 0 New Other parties 1313380 14 – 1186924 0 27172871 Ministry of the Interior Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 39.76 PCI Italian Communist Party 20.21 PSI Italian Socialist Party 11.90 PNM Monarchist National Party 6.51 MSI Italian Social Movement 6.07 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 4.31 PLI Italian Liberal Party 2.86 PRI Italian Republican Party 1.08 Others Other 7.30 Seats #ddd 550px 500px DC Christian Democracy (Italy) 47.26 PCI Italian Communist Party 21.94 PSI Italian Socialist Party 10.97 PNM Monarchist National Party 5.91 MSI Italian Social Movement 3.80 PSDI Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1.69 PLI Italian Liberal Party 1.27 Others Other 5.06 By constituency ConstituencyTotalseatsSeats wonDCPCIPSIPNMMSIPSDIPLIOthersPiedmont17842111Aosta Valley11Lombardy311666111Trentino-Alto Adige642Veneto1912331Friuli-Venezia Giulia6411Liguria8431Emilia-Romagna1736314Tuscany15663Umbria6222Marche7421Lazio1684112Abruzzo and Molise853Campania219315111Apulia1574121Basilicata6321Calabria1052111Sicily22843313Sardinia642Total23711252261494317 Notes References General election Category:General elections in Italy Italian general election Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results