The Democratici di Sinistra: In Search of a New Identity

Over the past decade, the DS underwent a process of momentous change. This change was the outcome of a complex interplay between party evolution on one side and the radical transformation of party system and political institutions on the other. Such sweeping transformation brought about a dramatic decline in the party’s vote share. Our paper focuses on party politics and organizational development. On the first point, we argue that the dual structure of party competition affected party positioning and competitive strategies. Our results show a steady shift toward more moderate policy positions on the left right dimension. Competitive and coalition building strategies also reveal a move toward the center of the political spectrum. Such centripetal tendencies were associated with a process of party factionalization. We have documented the institutionalization of the factional structure and its implications for leadership selection as well as for the cohesion and the stability of the dominant coalition. Another important finding of our work is that ‘new’ party members, i.e. those members that joined after the split with RC, are more active than ‘old’ party members. This may mean that while the number of party members is declining, the intensity of participation is increasing. To conclude, the pattern of alliances fosters a dilemma between merging strategy and party identity. The future evolution of the party will be deeply affected by the way in which it will solve this dilemma.