1953 Italian general election

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All 590 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 296 seats needed for a majority All 237 elective seats in the Senate 122 seats needed for a majority[a]
Registered	30,272,236 (C) · 27,172,871 (S)
Turnout	28,406,479 (C) · 93.8% (1.6 pp) 25,483,201 (S) · 93.8% (1.6 pp)
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Alcide De Gasperi Palmiro Togliatti Pietro Nenni Party DC PCI PSI Leader since 29 December 1944 15 May 1943[d] 16 May 1949[b] Leader's seat Trento (C) Rome (C) Rome (C) Seats won 263 (C) / 112 (S) 143 (C) / 52 (S) 75 (C) / 26 (S) Seat change 57 (C) / 19 (S) 19 (C) / 20 (S) 30 (C) / 12 (S) Popular vote 10,862,073 (C) 9,660,210 (S) 6,120,809 (C) 4,910,077 (S) 3,441,014 (C) 2,891,605 (S) Percentage 40.1% (C) 39.8% (S) 22.6% (C) 20.2% (S) 12.7% (C) 11.9% (S) Swing 8.4 pp (C) 8.3 pp (S) —[c] —[c]   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Alfredo Covelli Augusto De Marsanich Giuseppe Saragat Party Monarchist National Party MSI PSDI Leader since 11 June 1946 10 January 1950 7 October 1952[e] Leader's seat Benevento (C) L'Aquila (C) Turin (C) Seats won 40 (C) / 14 (S) 29 (C) / 9 (S) 19 (C) / 4 (S) Seat change 26 (C) / 10 (S) 23 (C) / 8 (S) 14 (C) / 4 (S) Popular vote 1,854,850 (C) 1,581,128 (S) 1,582,154 (C) 1,473,645 (S) 1,222,957 (C) 1,046,301 (S) Percentage 6.9% (C) 6.5% (S) 5.8% (C) 6.1% (S) 4.5% (C) 4.3% (S) Swing 4.1 pp (C) 4.8 pp (S) 3.8 pp (C) 5.4 pp (S) 2.6 pp (C) 0.1 pp (S)
Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate. Seat distribution for the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right).
Prime Minister before election Alcide De Gasperi DC Prime Minister after the election Alcide De Gasperi DC

The 1953 Italian general election was held in Italy on Sunday 7 June 1953.^[1]

"Scam law"

The election was characterized by changes in the electoral law. Even if the general structure remained uncorrupted, the government introduced a superbonus of two thirds of seats in the Chamber of Deputies for the coalition which would obtain at-large the absolute majority of votes. The change was hugely opposed by the opposition parties as well as the smaller Christian Democracy's coalition partners, which had no realistic chances of success. The new law was called "scam law" by its detractors, including some dissidents of minor government parties who founded special opposition groups to deny the artificial landslide to Christian Democracy. Its parliamentarian exam had a disruptive effect: "Among the iron pots of political forces that faced in the Cold War, Senate cracked as earthenware pot."^[2]

Historical background

In the 1950s, Italy became a founding member of the NATO alliance (1949), a member of the United Nations (1955) and an ally of the United States, which helped to revive the Italian economy through the Marshall Plan. In the same years, Italy also became a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952) and of the European Economic Community (1957), later developed into the European Union. At the end of the 1950s an impressive economic growth was termed "Economic Miracle". Italian families used their newfound wealth to purchase consumer durables for the first time. Between 1958 and 1965, the percentage of families owning a television rose from 12% to 49%, washing machines from 3% to 23%, and fridges from 13% to 55%.

Christian Democracy's main support areas, sometimes known as "vote tanks", were the rural areas in South, Center, and North-East Italy, whereas the industrial North-West had more left-leaning support because of the larger working class. An interesting exception were the "red regions" (Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, and Umbria) where the Italian Communist Party has historically had a wide support. This is considered a consequence of the particular sharecropping ("mezzadria") farming contracts used in these regions.

The Holy See actively supported Christian Democracy, judging it would be a mortal sin for a Catholic to vote for the Communist party and excommunicating all its supporters; however, in practice many Communists remained religious, and Emilia was known to be an area where people were both religious and communists. Giovannino Guareschi wrote his novels about Don Camillo describing a village, Brescello, whose inhabitants are at the same time loyal to priest Camillo and communist mayor Peppone, who are fierce rivals.

In 1953, a Parliamentary Commission on poverty estimated that 24% of Italian families were either "destitute" or "in hardship", 21% of dwellings were overcrowded, 52% of homes in the South had no running drinking water, and only 57% had a lavatory.^[3] In the 1950s, several important reforms were launched, such as agrarian reform (Scelba law), fiscal reform (Vanoni law), and the country enjoyed a period of economic boom and development (miracolo economico, or "economic miracle"). In this period of time, a massive population transfer, from the impoverished South to the booming industrial North, took place. This exacerbated social contrasts, including between the old-established "worker aristocracy" and the new less qualified immigrants ("operaio-massa") of Southern origin. In addition, a wide gap between rich and poor continued to exist. By the end of the 1960s, it was estimated that 4 million Italians (out of a population of 54.5 million) were unemployed, underemployed, and casual labourers. As noted by the historian Paul Ginsborg, the affluent society to this section of the Italian population "might have meant a television set but precious little else."

Parties and leaders

Results

The complaint campaign of the oppositions against the "scam law" reached its goal. The centrist coalition (DC, PSDI, PLI, PRI, SVP, and PSd'Az) won 49.9% of the national vote, coming just a few thousand votes short of the threshold for a two-thirds majority; the election resulted in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats. Minor dissident parties resulted determinant for the final result, especially the short-lived National Democratic Alliance. DC, the leading party, did not repeat the result of five years before, which had been obtained under special conditions linked to the Cold War, and lost a lot of votes to the right wing, which included resurgent Italian Fascist and neo-fascist politicians, particularly in Southern Italy.

While the government won the election with a clear working majority of seats in both houses, frustration at the failure to garner the expected supermajority caused big problems for the leading coalition. Alcide De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Italian Parliament on August 2; he retired and died twelve months later. The legislature continued with weak governments, with minor parties refusing institutional responsibilities. Giuseppe Pella rose to power but fell after five months only following strong disputes about the status of the Free Territory of Trieste, which Pella was claiming. Amintore Fanfani not receiving a vote of confidence, Mario Scelba and Antonio Segni followed with more traditional centrist coalitions supported by the PSDI and the PLI; under the administration of the first one, the problem of Trieste was closed ceding Koper to Yugoslavia. The parliamentary term was closed by the minority government chaired by Adone Zoli, finishing a legislature which hugely weakened the office of the Prime Minister, held by six different rulers.

Chamber of Deputies

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Centrist coalition		Christian Democracy	10,862,073	40.10	263	–41
			Italian Democratic Socialist Party	1,222,957	4.51	19	–14
			Italian Liberal Party	815,929	3.01	13	–6
			Italian Republican Party	438,149	1.62	5	–4
			South Tyrolean People's Party	122,474	0.45	3	0
			Sardinian Action Party	27,231	0.10	0	–1
			Trentino Tyrolean People's Party	1,714	0.01	0	New
	Italian Communist Party			6,120,809	22.60	143	+13
	Italian Socialist Party			3,441,014	12.70	75	+22
	Monarchist National Party			1,854,850	6.85	40	+26
	Italian Social Movement			1,582,154	5.84	29	+23
	Independent Socialist Union			225,409	0.83	0	New
	Popular Unity			171,099	0.63	0	New
	National Democratic Alliance			120,685	0.45	0	New
	Left-wing independents			21,920	0.08	0	New
	Italian Political Centre			14,493	0.05	0	New
	Italian National Monarchist Party			8,089	0.03	0	New
	Monarchist List			6,759	0.02	0	New
	Democratic National Union of Civil Servants			6,581	0.02	0	New
	Italian Nettist Party			4,305	0.02	0	New
	Socialist Radical Party			3,283	0.01	0	New
	Federated National Party			2,895	0.01	0	New
	Christian Social Movement			2,799	0.01	0	New
	Italian Female Movement			1,752	0.01	0	New
	Militant Christian Party			1,473	0.01	0	New
	Italian National Movement			1,257	0.00	0	New
	Italian Social Unitary Party			1,101	0.00	0	New
	National Will Party			1,010	0.00	0	New
	Italian Federalist Party			866	0.00	0	New
	Garibaldian Antifascist Partisan Movement of Italy			762	0.00	0	New
	Universal Existentialist Party			716	0.00	0	New
	National Union Party			563	0.00	0	New
	Independents			530	0.00	0	New
Total				27,087,701	100.00	590	+16
Valid votes				27,087,701	95.36
Invalid/blank votes				1,318,778	4.64
Total votes				28,406,479	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				30,272,236	93.84
Source: Ministry of the Interior

By constituency

Senate of the Republic

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Democracy	9,660,210	39.76	112	−19
	Italian Communist Party	4,910,077	20.21	52	+6
	Italian Socialist Party	2,891,605	11.90	26	−15
	Monarchist National Party	1,581,128	6.51	14	+10
	Italian Social Movement	1,473,645	6.07	9	+8
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	1,046,301	4.31	4	−4
	Italian Liberal Party	695,816	2.86	3	−4
	Italian Republican Party	261,713	1.08	0	−4
	Popular Unity	172,545	0.71	0	New
	National Democratic Alliance	165,845	0.68	1	New
	South Tyrolean People's Party	107,139	0.44	2	0
	Autonomy Aosta – Peace	16,873	0.07	0	New
	Other parties	1,313,380	5.41	14	–
Total		24,296,277	100.00	237	0
Valid votes		24,296,277	95.34
Invalid/blank votes		1,186,924	4.66
Total votes		25,483,201	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		27,172,871	93.78
Source: Ministry of the Interior

By constituency