Issue № 59. December 2016

The Action Party in Italy: Organizational Development and Intra-party Debates (Spring 1942 — Summer 1944)

Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
E-mail: Naumova_EP@spa.msu.ru

The article is a study of the organizational features and the ideological and political evolution of the Action Party (Partitito d`Azione, PdA) in Italy. Particular attention is paid to the discussions between the representatives of liberal-democratic and liberal-socialist wings of the PdA, which occurred constantly virtually since its inception. The starting point in the discussion was the dispute between E. Lusse and U. La Malfa. It started in the official correspondence in “21 points” to Lusse and “10 points” of La Malfa and went far beyond the Roman Executive Committee of PdA. The author examines the position of the leaders of the liberal-democratic and liberal-socialist movements, their views on the PdA. In the early stages of the formation of the PdA it was possible to separate the political and ideological issues. However, the problems of the prospects of Italy and the place of the PdA in the process of democratization reemerged after the conclusion of the Resistance.

Keywords

Action Party, actionists, anti-fascist movement, fascism, organizational development Party, intra-party debate, U. La Malfa, E. Lussu, liberal socialism, C. Rosselli, “Justice and Freedom”, “Liberal socialist movement”, A. Kapitini, G. Calogero, the Resistance movement.