Italian general election, 1867

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Italian general election, 1867

Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg

←  1865 10 and 17 March 1867 1870  →
All 493 seats to the Italian Chamber of Deputies

 Majority partyMinority party
  Urbano Rattazzi-lookingleft.jpg Bettino Ricasoli 2.jpg
Leader Urbano Rattazzi Bettino Ricasoli
Party Historical Left Historical Right
Leader's seat Alessandria Florence
Seats won225151
Seat changeIncrease2.svg69Decrease2.svg32
Popular vote126,20284,685
Percentage45.6%30.6%
Prime Minister before election

Bettino Ricasoli
Historical Right

Elected Prime Minister

Urbano Rattazzi
Historical Left

Bettino Ricasoli resigned as Prime Minister of Italy on 10 April 1867, due to a recalcitrant Italian Chamber. The chamber disagreed with his agreements with the Vatican regarding the repatriation of certain religious properties. Subsequent to his resignation, general elections were held in Italy on 10 March 1867; with the second round of voting on 17 March 1867. [1] These snap elections resulted in Urbano Rattazzi being elected once again to office. [2]

Bettino Ricasoli Italian politician

Bettino Ricasoli, 1st Count of Brolio, 2nd Baron Ricasoli was an Italian statesman.

Urbano Rattazzi Italian politician

Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi was an Italian statesman, and along with the Count of Cavour, one of Italy's founding fathers.

Contents

Due to the restrictive Italian electoral laws of the time, only 504,265 Italian men, out of a total population of around 26 million, were entitled to vote. The voters were largely aristocrats, rentiers, and capitalists, who tended to hold moderate political views, including loyalty to the crown and low government spending. [3]

Rentier capitalism

Rentier capitalism is a Marxist term currently used to describe the belief in economic practices of monopolization of access to any kind of property, and gaining significant amounts of profit without contribution to society. The origins of the term are unclear; it is often said to be used in Marxism, yet the very combination of words rentier and capitalism was never used by Karl Marx himself.

Electoral campaign

The opposition to Ricasoli was mainly organized by former Prime Minister Rattazzi, a moderate member of the Historical Left, who had entered into a coalition with the Historical Right in Piedmont fifteen years earlier. Even though Italian elections were officially non-partisan, the political conflict was so evident that the election became a match between these two political heavyweights. [4]

The Left group, later called Historical Left by historians to distinguish it from the left-wing groups of the 20th century, was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group in Italy during the second half of the 19th century. The members of the Left were also known as Democrats or Ministerials. Differently by his Right counterpart, the Left was the result of coalition who represented Northern and Southern middle class, urban bourgeoisie, small businessmen, journalists and academics. It also supported a right to vote and the public school for all children. Moreover, the party was against the high taxation's policies promoted by the Right. Since the 1890s, the Left showed conservative tendencies, breaking strikes and protests and promoting a colonialist policy in Africa.

The Right group, later called Historical Right by historians to distinguish it from the right-wing groups of the 20th century, was an Italian parliamentary group during the second half of the 19th century. Since 1876, the Historical Right constituted the Constitutional opposition toward the left governments. Since 1882, its members were usually labeled as Constitutionals or Liberal-Conservatives, especially during the leadership of Rudinì and Sonnino. Few prime ministers after 1852 were party men; instead they accepted support where they could find it, and even the governments of the Historical Right during the 1860s included leftists.

The 1867 election was a great defeat for Ricasoli, who thereafter retired to private life. However, while Ricasoli lost, Rattazzi did not receive a clear mandate, especially during the second part of the traditional two-round system. Many Independent candidates, who were ready to support any government that would support their local interests, were lukewarm supporters at best. Ultimately, Rattazzi was charged by the king to form a new government, but the fickle leftist faction abandoned him, forcing Rattazzi to form a new coalition. [5] This was typical of Italian politics of the day, which were officially non-partisan with no structured parties. Voters instead were influenced more by localism and corruption, rather than loyalty to any leader or party. [6]

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

Politics of Italy political system in Italy

The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly was elected to draft a constitution, which was promulgated on 1 January 1948.

Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity. Localism can be contrasted with regionalism and centralized government, with its opposite being found in the unitary state.

Rattazzi tried to form a centrist government consisting of his centre-left moderate faction, some Independents, and the Historical Right. These groups agreed to the coalition in order to later regain control. However, despite his efforts, Rattazzi's victory was ephemeral, similar to his first term as Prime Minister in 1862: barely six months later he was unable to stop an armed attack by a national hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi, upon the Papal State. The King, seeing that Rattazzi was ineffective, quickly forced his resignation. Senator Federico Luigi Menabrea then took over as Prime Minister, with the Historical Right regaining full control of the government. [7]

Giuseppe Garibaldi Italian general and politician

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian general and nationalist. A republican, he contributed to the Italian unification and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered one of the greatest generals of modern times and one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland" along with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and Giuseppe Mazzini.

Parties and leaders

PartyIdeologyLeader
Historical Left Liberalism, Centrism Urbano Rattazzi
Historical Right Conservatism, Monarchism Bettino Ricasoli

Results

← Summary of March 1867 Chamber of Deputies election results →
Italian Parliament 1867.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/−
Historical Left 126,202 [lower-alpha 1] 45.6225+69
Historical Right 84,685 [lower-alpha 1] 30.6151−32
Independents 65,636 [lower-alpha 1] 23.874–
Invalid seats [8] 43–
Total276,523100493+50
Registered voters/turnout504,26554.8––
Source: "La Stampa", Tuesday, 19 March 1867.
  1. 1 2 3 Estimate
Parliamentary seats
Historical Left
 
45.6%
Historical Right
 
30.6%
Independents
 
23.8%

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ La Stampa, Sunday, 10 March 1867.
  3. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1028
  4. ↑ La Stampa, Saturday, 23 March 1867.
  5. ↑ La Stampa, Friday, 12 April 1867.
  6. ↑ La Stampa, Saturday, 13 April 1867.
  7. ↑ "Federico Menabrea" in Encyclopædia Britannica.
  8. ↑ The electoral law did not limit the number of constituencies where a candidate could stand, so many political leaders run and won in two or more constituencies, which consequently needed by-elections to fill their seats.
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