1963 Italian general election

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1963 Italian general election
Flag of Italy.svg
  1958 28 April 1963 1968  

All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
316 seats needed for a majority
All 315 elective seats in the Senate
161 seats needed for a majority [lower-alpha 1]
Registered34,199,184 (C) ·31,019,23 (S)
Turnout31,766,009 (C) ·92.9% (Decrease2.svg0.9 pp)
28,872,052 (S) ·93.1% (Decrease2.svg0.9 pp)
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
 
Aldo Moro 1968.jpg
Palmiro Togliatti Official (cropped).jpg
Pietro Nenni 1963.jpg
Leader Aldo Moro Palmiro Togliatti Pietro Nenni
Party DC PCI PSI
Leader since16 March 195915 May 1943 [lower-alpha 2] 16 May 1949 [lower-alpha 3]
Leader's seat Bari (C) Rome (S) Milan (C)
Seats won260 (C) / 129 (S)166 (C) / 84 (S)87 (C) / 44 (S)
Seat changeDecrease2.svg13 (C) / Increase2.svg6 (S)Increase2.svg26 (C) / Increase2.svg25 (S)Increase2.svg3 (C) / Increase2.svg9 (S)
Popular vote11,773,182 (C)
10,017,975 (S)
7,767,601 (C)
6,461,616 (S)
4,255,836 (C)
3,849,440 (S)
Percentage38.3% (C)
36.5% (S)
25.3% (C)
23.5% (S)
13.8% (C)
14.0% (S)
SwingDecrease2.svg4.1 pp (C)
Decrease2.svg4.7 pp (S)
Increase2.svg2.6 pp (C)
Increase2.svg1.7 pp (S)
Decrease2.svg0.4 pp (C)
Decrease2.svg0.1 pp (S)

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
 
Giovanni Malagodi 1972.jpg
Giuseppe Saragat (cropped).jpg
Arturo Michelini (cropped).jpg
Leader Giovanni Malagodi Giuseppe Saragat Arturo Michelini
Party PLI PSDI MSI
Leader since4 April 195411 April 1957 [lower-alpha 4] 10 October 1954
Leader's seat Milan (C) Turin (C) Rome (C)
Seats won39 (C) / 18 (S)33 (C) / 14 (S)27 (C) / 14 (S)
Seat changeIncrease2.svg22 (C) / Increase2.svg14 (S)Increase2.svg11 (C) / Increase2.svg9 (S)Increase2.svg3 (C) / Increase2.svg6 (S)
Popular vote2,144,270 (C)
2,043,323 (S)
1,876,271 (C)
1,743,870 (S)
1,570,282 (C)
1,458,917 (S)
Percentage7.0% (C)
7.4% (S)
6.1% (C)
6.4% (S)
5.1% (C)
5.3% (S)
SwingIncrease2.svg3.5 pp (C)
Increase2.svg3.5 pp (S)
Increase2.svg1.5 pp (C)
Increase2.svg1.9 pp (S)
Increase2.svg0.3 pp (C)
Increase2.svg0.9 pp (S)

1963 Italian general election - Results.svg
1963 Italian general election - Seat Distribution.svg

Prime Minister before election

Amintore Fanfani
DC

Prime Minister after the election

Giovanni Leone
DC

The 1963 Italian general election was held on Sunday April 28. [1] It was the first election with a fixed number of MPs to be elected, as decided by the second Constitutional Reform in February 1963. [2] It was also the first election which saw the Secretary of Christian Democracy to refuse the office of Prime Minister after the vote, at least for six months, preferring to provisionally maintain his more influent post at the head of the party: this fact confirmed the transformation of Italian political system into a particracy, the secretaries of the parties having become more powerful than the Parliament and the Government. [3]

Contents

Electoral system

The pure party-list proportional representation had traditionally become the electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies. Italian provinces were united in 32 constituencies, each electing a group of candidates. At constituency level, seats were divided between open lists using the largest remainder method with Imperiali quota. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at a national level, where they were divided using the Hare quota, and automatically distributed to best losers into the local lists.

For the Senate, 237 single-seat constituencies were established, even if the assembly had risen to 315 members. The candidates needed a landslide victory of two-thirds of votes to be elected, a goal which could be reached only by the German minorities in South Tirol. All remained votes and seats were grouped in party lists and regional constituencies, where a D'Hondt method was used: inside the lists, candidates with the best percentages were elected.

Historical background

The DC's leader Aldo Moro with the PSI's one Pietro Nenni. Aldo Moro and Pietro Nenni.JPG
The DC's leader Aldo Moro with the PSI's one Pietro Nenni.

During the First Republic, the Christian Democracy slowly but steadily lost support, as society modernised and the traditional values at its ideological core became less appealing to the population. Various options of extending the parliamentary majority were considered, mainly an opening to the left (apertura a sinistra), i.e. to the Socialist party (PSI), which after the 1956 events in Hungary had moved from a position of total subordination to the Communists, to an independent position. Proponents of such a coalition proposed a series much-needed "structural reforms" that would modernize the country and create a modern social-democracy. In 1960, an attempt by the right wing of the Christian Democrats to incorporate the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) in the Tambroni government led to violent and bloody riots (Genoa, Reggio Emilia), and was defeated.

Up until the Nineties, two types of governmental coalitions characterised the politics of post-war Italy. The first were “centrist” coalitions led by the Christian Democracy party together with smaller parties: the Social Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Liberal Party. The first democratic government (1947) excluded both communists and the socialists, which brought about the political period known as “centrist government,” which ruled over Italian politics from 1948 to 1963. The centre-left coalition (DC-PRI-PSDI-PSI) was the second type of coalition that characterised Italian politics, coming about in 1963 when the PSI (formerly the opposition party) went into government with the DC. This coalition lasted in parliament first for 12 years (from 1964 to 1976) and then with a revival in the Eighties that lasted until the start of the Nineties. [4]

The Socialist Party entered government in 1963. During the first year of the new centre-left government, a wide range of measures were carried out which went some way towards the Socialist Party's requirements for governing in coalition with the Christian Democrats. These included taxation of real estate profits and of share dividends (designed to curb speculation), increases in pensions for various categories of workers, a law on school organisation (to provide for a unified secondary school with compulsory attendance up to the age of 14), the nationalisation of the electric-power industry, and significant wage rises for workers (including those in the newly nationalised electric-power industry), which led to a rise in consumer demand. Urged on by the PSI, the government also made brave attempts to tackle issues relating to welfare services, hospitals, the agrarian structure, urban development, education, and overall planning. [5] For instance, during the Centre-Left Government's time in office, social security was extended to previously uncovered categories of the population. [6] In addition, entrance to university by examination was abolished in 1965. Despite these important reforms, however, the reformist drive was soon lost, and the most important problems (including the mafia, social inequalities, inefficient state/social services, North/South imbalance) remained largely untackled.

Parties and leaders

PartyIdeologyLeaderSeats in 1958
CSTotal
Christian Democracy (DC) Christian democracy Aldo Moro
273
123
396
Italian Communist Party (PCI) Communism Palmiro Togliatti
140
60
200
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Democratic socialism Pietro Nenni
84
36
120
Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity (PDIUM) Monarchism Alfredo Covelli
25
7
32
Italian Social Movement (MSI) Neo-fascism Arturo Michelini
24
8
32
Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) Social democracy Giuseppe Saragat
22
5
27
Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Conservative liberalism Giovanni Malagodi
17
4
21
Italian Republican Party (PRI) Republicanism Oronzo Reale
6
0
6

Results

The election fell after the launch of the centre-left formula by the Christian Democracy, a coalition based upon the alliance with the Socialist Party which had left its alignment with the Soviet Union. Some rightist electors abandoned the DC for the Liberal Party, which was asking for a centre-right government and received votes also from the quarrelsome monarchist area. The majority party so decided to replace incumbent Premier Amintore Fanfani with a provisional administration led by impartial Speaker of the House, Giovanni Leone; however, when the congress of the PSI in autumn authorized a full engagement of the party into the government, Leone resigned and Aldo Moro, secretary of the DC and leader of the more leftist wing of the party, became the new Prime Minister and ruled Italy for more than four years, ever passing through two resolved political crisis caused even by the detachment of the left wing of the PSI, which created the PSIUP and returned to the alliance with the Communists, and by disagreements into the governmental coalition.

Chamber of Deputies

Italian Chamber of Deputies 1963.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Democracy 11,773,18238.28260−13
Italian Communist Party 7,767,60125.26166+16
Italian Socialist Party 4,255,83613.8487+3
Italian Liberal Party 2,144,2706.9739+22
Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1,876,2716.1033+11
Italian Social Movement 1,570,2825.1127+3
Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity 536,9481.758−17
Italian Republican Party 420,2131.3760
South Tyrolean People's Party 135,4570.4430
Concentration of Rural Unity92,2090.3000
Autonomous Party of Italy's Pensioners87,6550.290New
Valdostan Union 31,8440.1010
Italian Combatant Movement–National Rebirth Front19,9020.060New
Italian Catholic Political Movement7,2200.020New
Christian Social Party6,8730.020New
National Monarchist Party6,4720.020New
Slovene Unified List 5,6790.020New
Movement for the Independence of the Free Territory of Trieste4,2610.010New
National Union of Public Health2,9260.010New
Farmers and Employees Movement2,6850.010New
Social Renewal1,7500.010New
Italian Popular Movement1,6210.010New
National Vanguard9590.000New
Italian Labour Party7550.000New
Total30,752,871100.00630+34
Valid votes30,752,87196.81
Invalid/blank votes1,013,1383.19
Total votes31,766,009100.00
Registered voters/turnout34,199,18492.89
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
DC
38.28%
PCI
25.26%
PSI
13.84%
PLI
6.97%
PSDI
6.10%
MSI
5.11%
PDIUM
1.75%
PRI
1.37%
Others
1.33%
Seats
DC
41.27%
PCI
26.35%
PSI
13.81%
PLI
6.19%
PSDI
5.24%
MSI
4.29%
PDIUM
1.27%
PRI
0.95%
Others
0.63%

Results by constituency

ConstituencyTotal
seats
Seats won
DC PCI PSI PLI PSDI MSI PDIUM PRI Others
Turin 331195431
Cuneo 1473211
Genoa 23873221
Milan 4515119532
Como 1792411
Brescia 19122311
Mantua 9432
Trentino 105113
Verona 291744211
Venice 1793311
Udine 1472212
Bologna 2761241211
Parma 1968311
Florence 1657211
Pisa 1555311
Siena 10352
Ancona 197621111
Perugia 124521
Rome 481612643511
L'Aquila 16742111
Campobasso 431
Naples 38151042223
Benevento 2110421211
Bari 231073111
Lecce 1894212
Potenza 8431
Catanzaro 261273112
Catania 2912733121
Palermo 29127321211
Cagliari 188421111
Aosta Valley 11
Trieste 321
Total63026016687393327864

Senate of the Republic

Italian Senate 1963.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Democracy 10,017,97536.47129+6
Italian Communist Party 6,933,31025.2484+25
Italian Socialist Party 3,849,49514.0144+9
Italian Liberal Party 2,043,3237.4418+14
Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1,743,8706.3514+9
Italian Social Movement 1,458,9175.3114+6
Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity 429,4121.562−5
Italian Republican Party 223,3500.8100
MSIPDIUM 212,3810.771+1
DCPRI 199,8050.7340
South Tyrolean People's Party 112,0230.4120
Concentration of Rural Unity58,0640.210New
Social Christian Autonomist Party43,3550.161New
Sardinian Action Party 34,9540.1300
Valdostan Union 29,5100.111+1
Right-wing independents24,7720.090New
Catholic independents22,5780.081+1
Left-wing independents15,2240.060–1
Social Christian Sicilian Union 13,1870.050New
Combatant Peasants3,7970.010New
Total27,469,302100.00315+69
Valid votes27,469,30292.36
Invalid/blank votes2,273,4067.64
Total votes29,742,708100.00
Registered voters/turnout31,019,23395.88
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
DC
36.47%
PCI
25.24%
PSI
14.01%
PLI
7.44%
PSDI
6.35%
MSI
5.31%
PDIUM
1.56%
Others
3.62%
Seats
DC
40.95%
PCI
26.67%
PSI
13.97%
PLI
5.71%
PSDI
4.44%
MSI
4.44%
PDIUM
0.63%
Others
3.17%

Results by constituency

ConstituencyTotal
seats
Seats won
DC PCI PSI PLI PSDI MSI PDIUM Others
Piedmont 2496432
Aosta Valley 11
Lombardy 4519108431
Trentino-Alto Adige 7412
Veneto 23143411
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 74111
Liguria 1143211
Emilia-Romagna 223103114
Tuscany 20683111
Umbria 7331
Marche 8431
Lazio 24873213
Abruzzo and Molise 95211
Campania 29118321211
Apulia 21106212
Basilicata 7421
Calabria 125421
Sicily 29116331311
Sardinia 95211
Total3151298444181414210

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1048 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Constitutional Reform number 2 decided a fixed number of 630 member for the House, under the example of the British House of Commons during that period, and of 315 for the Senate, with a minimum of seven senators for each region excluding Aosta Valley and, later, Molise. This reform is still in force.
  3. Italian electors effectively lost any chance to decide their Prime Minister until the majoritarian reform of 1993.
  4. Naldini, Manuela (2013-01-11). The Family in the Mediterranean Welfare States. Routledge. ISBN   9781135775681.
  5. Italy by Muriel Grindrod
  6. Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II: Volume 2 edited by Peter Flora
  1. taking into account the Senators for life, which accounted for 6 seats at the time the election took place
  2. Togliatti also served as secretary of the Communist Party of Italy from 1926 to 1934 and from 1938 to 1943.
  3. Nenni also served as secretary from 1933 to 1939 and from 1943 to 1945.
  4. Saragat also served as secretary from 1949 to 1952 and from 1952 to 1954.