The DC Factions and Leadership Group

Abstract

Just as any understanding of the Italian political system is dependent upon a prior understanding of the Christian Democratic Party, an understanding of how the DC operates assumes a knowledge of the role and functions of factions within the party organisation. The Christian Democratic Party is composed of a variety of factional groupings in a manner similar to that which we find at the level of the political system. Italy has a multiparty political system, and the Christian Democratic Party has a multifactional organisational structure. Christian Democracy was not at the beginning (and never has been since) a monolithic party structure enjoying clear lines of command, following one line of policy, and having a homogenous social base of support. As a consequence, democratic centralism never had the chance of becoming an accepted principle for the conduct of internal affairs. The party leadership has always had difficulty in maintaining a semblance of discipline among the party’s members in parliament as well as in other public arenas.¹