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Italian Radicals
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Italian Radicals
The Italian Radicals (Italian: Radicali Italiani, RI) are a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. The party draws inspiration from 19th-century classical radicalism and the Radical Party. The RI are a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and were previously a member of the Liberal International.
Established on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as its first secretary, the party describes itself as "liberale, liberista [and] libertario", where liberale refers to political liberalism, liberista is an Italian term for economic liberalism, and libertario denotes a form of cultural liberalism concerning moral and social issues.
From 2001 to 2017, the party intended to be the Italian section of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) as the continuation of the Radical Party founded in 1955 by the left wing of the Italian Liberal Party and re-launched in the 1960s by Marco Pannella. As the Radical Party had become a transnational non-governmental organization working mainly at the United Nations level, which by statute could not participate in national elections, its Italian members organised themselves into the Pannella List between 1992 and 1999 and the Bonino List until 2001, when they established the RI. In 2017, the TRP broke with the RI. From 2017 to 2022 and again since 2024 the RI have been associated with More Europe (+E), a broader liberal party led by Radicals or former Radicals. Quaderni Radicali and Notizie Radicali are the party's newspapers. Radio Radicale is the official radio station of the party; in December 2008, it was awarded by Italia Oggi as the "best specialized radio broadcaster".
The Radical Party was long a left-libertarian movement in Italy, often proposing itself as the most extreme opposition to the Italian political establishment. When Silvio Berlusconi entered the political arena in 1994, the Radicals, who were then organised mostly into the Pannella List and were attracted by Berlusconi's proposed economic liberalism, supported him, albeit critically and without becoming directly involved in his centre-right first government (1994–1995), in the hope of a "liberal revolution" as opposed to the conservative and statist political establishment represented by traditional parties.[citation needed]
The relationship between the Radicals and Berlusconi, whose allies included socially conservative groups at odds with the Radicals' cultural liberalism, soon ended. In the 1999 European Parliament election, the Bonino List obtained 8.7% of the vote and seven MEPs, including Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella, Marco Cappato and Benedetto Della Vedova. However, the Radicals were not able to convert that electoral success into a more stable political influence, as subsequent elections would show.
Shortly after the 1999 election, they deserted Berlusconi's proposal of welcoming them back into the centre-right fold and instead formed the Committee of Radicals for the Liberal Revolution and the United States of Europe, led by Cappato. In the run-up of the 2000 regional elections, the opposite happened: Berlusconi's conservative allies posed a veto on the Radicals, who wanted to re-compose the alliance. Consequently, they ran independent bids in most regions, obtaining elects only in Piedmont and Lombardy.
In 2001, after a defeat in the general election (only 2.3% of the vote and no seats), they re-organised themselves as Italian Radicals and elected 28-year-old Daniele Capezzone as secretary and Della Vedova, Rita Bernardini and Luca Coscioni as joint presidents.
In the run-up of the 2005 regional elections, the Radicals understood that their isolation was no longer sustainable and took the unprecedented step of contextually asking to join either the centre-right House of Freedoms or the centre-left The Union, regardless of their respective political platforms. The request was turned down by both coalitions, but the effort opened the way for the party's re-positionment in the Italian party system.
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Italian Radicals
The Italian Radicals (Italian: Radicali Italiani, RI) are a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. The party draws inspiration from 19th-century classical radicalism and the Radical Party. The RI are a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and were previously a member of the Liberal International.
Established on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as its first secretary, the party describes itself as "liberale, liberista [and] libertario", where liberale refers to political liberalism, liberista is an Italian term for economic liberalism, and libertario denotes a form of cultural liberalism concerning moral and social issues.
From 2001 to 2017, the party intended to be the Italian section of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) as the continuation of the Radical Party founded in 1955 by the left wing of the Italian Liberal Party and re-launched in the 1960s by Marco Pannella. As the Radical Party had become a transnational non-governmental organization working mainly at the United Nations level, which by statute could not participate in national elections, its Italian members organised themselves into the Pannella List between 1992 and 1999 and the Bonino List until 2001, when they established the RI. In 2017, the TRP broke with the RI. From 2017 to 2022 and again since 2024 the RI have been associated with More Europe (+E), a broader liberal party led by Radicals or former Radicals. Quaderni Radicali and Notizie Radicali are the party's newspapers. Radio Radicale is the official radio station of the party; in December 2008, it was awarded by Italia Oggi as the "best specialized radio broadcaster".
The Radical Party was long a left-libertarian movement in Italy, often proposing itself as the most extreme opposition to the Italian political establishment. When Silvio Berlusconi entered the political arena in 1994, the Radicals, who were then organised mostly into the Pannella List and were attracted by Berlusconi's proposed economic liberalism, supported him, albeit critically and without becoming directly involved in his centre-right first government (1994–1995), in the hope of a "liberal revolution" as opposed to the conservative and statist political establishment represented by traditional parties.[citation needed]
The relationship between the Radicals and Berlusconi, whose allies included socially conservative groups at odds with the Radicals' cultural liberalism, soon ended. In the 1999 European Parliament election, the Bonino List obtained 8.7% of the vote and seven MEPs, including Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella, Marco Cappato and Benedetto Della Vedova. However, the Radicals were not able to convert that electoral success into a more stable political influence, as subsequent elections would show.
Shortly after the 1999 election, they deserted Berlusconi's proposal of welcoming them back into the centre-right fold and instead formed the Committee of Radicals for the Liberal Revolution and the United States of Europe, led by Cappato. In the run-up of the 2000 regional elections, the opposite happened: Berlusconi's conservative allies posed a veto on the Radicals, who wanted to re-compose the alliance. Consequently, they ran independent bids in most regions, obtaining elects only in Piedmont and Lombardy.
In 2001, after a defeat in the general election (only 2.3% of the vote and no seats), they re-organised themselves as Italian Radicals and elected 28-year-old Daniele Capezzone as secretary and Della Vedova, Rita Bernardini and Luca Coscioni as joint presidents.
In the run-up of the 2005 regional elections, the Radicals understood that their isolation was no longer sustainable and took the unprecedented step of contextually asking to join either the centre-right House of Freedoms or the centre-left The Union, regardless of their respective political platforms. The request was turned down by both coalitions, but the effort opened the way for the party's re-positionment in the Italian party system.