Theo-Dem TeoDem | |
|---|---|
| Ideology | Christian democracy Christian left Social conservatism |
| Political position | Centre |
Theo-Dems (TeoDem) are a Christian-democratic faction with the Italian Democratic Party, which combines social-conservative views on ethical issues with a Christian leftist approach on economic issues.
Christian democracy is a political ideology that emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching, as well as Neo-Calvinism. Christian democratic political ideology advocates for a commitment to social market principles and qualified interventionism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ideas and traditional Christian values, incorporating the social teachings espoused by the Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, and Pentecostal traditions in various parts of the world. After World War II, the Protestant and Catholic movements of the Social Gospel and Neo-Thomism, respectively, played a role in shaping Christian democracy. Christian democracy continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, although it is also present in other parts of the world.
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy.
In the run-up of the 2006 general election Francesco Rutelli, leader of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, recruited some devout Catholics, notably Paola Binetti (president of the committee against the referendum on limiting the restrictions to artificial insemination) and Luigi Bobba (leader of the "Christian Associations of Italian Workers", a leading Catholic association), to run in party lists for the Senate, in order to balance the choice of a joint-list with the left-wing Democrats of the Left for the Chamber of Deputies.
Francesco Rutelli is an Italian politician and current President of European Democratic Party. He chairs Anica, National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry, since October 2016. He also chairs the "Centro per un Futuro Sostenibile". He is co-president of the European Democratic Party, a centrist European political party, today counting approximately 20 MEPs. He has been Mayor of Rome 1994–2001, and president of the centrist party Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy 2002–2007. He was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Tourism in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Romano Prodi 2006–2008. In 2008 Rutelli ran unsuccessfully for a new term as Mayor of Rome after the resignation of Walter Veltroni. Currently he also chairs Priorità Cultura ; Incontro di Civiltà.
Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, commonly known simply as The Daisy, was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties: the Italian People's Party, The Democrats and Italian Renewal. The party president and leader was Francesco Rutelli, former mayor of Rome and prime ministerial candidate during the 2001 general election for The Olive Tree coalition, within which The Daisy electoral list won 14.5% of the national vote.
In the 2006–2008 parliamentary term three senators (Luigi Bobba, Patrizia Binetti and Emanuela Baio Dossi) and three deputies (Dorina Bianchi, Enzo Carra and Marco Calgaro) were affiliated to the Theo-Dems. Due to the razor-thin majority of The Union in the Senate, they sometimes held the balance. After some initial criticism, they decided to follow Rutelli into the Democratic Party, born with the merger of Democracy is Freedom with the Democrats of the Left. During the parliamentary term Theo-Dems were joined by other Catholic MPs close to Rutelli, including two former leading members of the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts, Cristina De Luca and Luigi Lusi.
The Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani is a Catholic Scouting and Guiding association in Italy. It is coeducational and has 183,638 members, including 32,898 leaders, 1,952 groups and 6,333 units, making it the country's largest Scout association.
Luigi Lusi is an Italian politician, lawyer and Senator. He was the treasurer of The Daisy from 2001 to 2007 and a member of the Democratic Party from 2007 to 2012.
In the current parliamentary term, started with the 2008 general election, the group was originally composed of five deputies (Paola Binetti, Luigi Bobba, Enzo Carra, Marco Calgaro and Donato Mosella) e six senators (Benedetto Adragna, Emanuela Baio Dossi, Egidio Banti, Dorina Bianchi, Luigi Lusi e Antonino Papania), [1] all close to Rutelli so that they are considered to be part of the so-called rutelliani .
Rutelliani refers to the group around Francesco Rutelli, a former leading member of the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy, and later leader of Alliance for Italy. The followers of Rutelli were mainly centrists who wanted the party to be modelled on the Democratic Party of the United States and to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and the Alliance of Democrats. They included both liberals and Christian-democrats.
In October 2008 some Theo-Dems, along with other Catholic MPs close to Rutelli, notably including Renzo Lusetti, launched a new association named Persons and Networks (PeR). [2] [3] [4] It is not yet clear if it will replace the current association or not.
In the 2009 Democratic Party leadership election the group supported Dario Franceschini, through the adhesion to Rutelli's Free Democrats. [5] In October, however, Binetti, offended by some remarks by Franceschini over her positions on homophobia, she hinted that she was going to vote for Pier Luigi Bersani. [6] In November 2009 some Theo-Dems (including Marco Calgaro) left the PD in order to join Rutelli's new party, Alliance for Italy, while in January–February 2010 Enzo Carra, Renzo Lusetti [7] and finally Paola Binetti joined the Union of the Centre instead, citing the PD's endorsement to Emma Bonino, a secularist Radical, as centre-left candidate in the Lazio regional election. [8] After these splits, the Theo-Dems, led by Luigi Bobba, are thus a tiny minority within the PD, composed of one deputy and five senators. Without Binetti and Carra the future of the faction is anyway unclear.
Dario Franceschini is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, who served as the second leader of the Democratic Party.
The Free Democrats were the centrist faction within the Democratic Party (PD), a political party in Italy, around Francesco Rutelli, former leader of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, one of the two main parties that merged to form the PD in 2007.
