The PD and social-democratic parties in Europe

This article analyses the main challenges currently facing the Partito Democratico (Democratic Party, PD), drawing a comparison with other social-democratic parties in Europe. After illustrating how the party campaigned before the election and the decisions it took after the electoral defeat, we highlight the main causes of the party’s decline. First, the party was identified by voters as the main actor responsible for unpopular economic policies; we note that the PD, more than any other party in Italy, maintained the objective of securing Italy’s participation in the euro (with all its implications). Second, the PD’s strategy on migration was unpopular, and it increased the electoral support for challenger parties. Third, like other social-democratic parties, the PD suffers from the ‘meritocratic cleavage’ that is emerging, by which parties of the Left are supported by educated middle-class voters, but increasingly fail to attract voters from the working class.