Centre-left
The term " center-left " refers to the political positioning of political content or political actors ( alliances, parties, individuals, groups). The localization is based on the assumption that political actors can be arranged in a left-right spectrum.
The term " center-left " can, for a denote the localization of a single actor in this spectrum. Secondly, " center-left " a coalition of actors call are assigned in the spectrum of the different positions. In the second case, the center- left is the short name for a political co-operation between two or more parties represented in Parliament from the "center" and the "left" part of the party spectrum.
" Center-left " to refer to alliances
In most cases, the cooperation for the purpose of government formation takes place, but it can also be an electoral alliance to improve the electoral chances in small parties.
As a rule, at least one social democratic or socialist-oriented grouping among the left-wing parties.
Whether a red-green coalition as " center-left " - or to be regarded as pure " left" government is, depends on the / the dominant parties. Is a so-called People's Party ( such as the SPD) including a part of the political center is probably involved. However, a strong left wing, the government program to be negotiated more move from the middle, as it would do the big party for itself.
Analog constellations
Known center-left coalitions in Italy
Among the countries with frequent center-left coalitions (but also some center-right groupings ) is one of Italy. Here in the last decades were a number of collaborations and coalitions recorded, which originated with a total of about a dozen smaller parties and of varying composition. Furthermore, have since the 1990s also pacts with largely identical partners operating under different names:
The Olive (1996-2001)
The center- left coalition The Olive (Italian for Olive) won the parliamentary election in 1996 and then ruled until 2001 In this time of Ulivo presented three prime ministers. Romano Prodi to his lost confidence vote in October 1998, after Massimo D' Alema and finally, Giuliano Amato. After 2001, the Alliance Party was in opposition to the center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi.
The olive tree united following parties:
- Democrats of the Sinistra (DS, Left Democrats )
- La Margherita - Democrazia è Libertà ( Margherita )
- Federazione dei Verdi ( Federation of the Greens )
- Socialisti Democratici Italiani (SDI )
- Popolari - Unione Democratici per l'Europa ( popolari - UDEUR )
- Partito dei Comunisti Italiani ( PdCl )
- And three smaller groupings.
They performed under the certificate list Paese Nuovo (New Land) in the parliamentary elections of 2001.
L' Unione (2005-2008)
The center- left coalition expanded to 13 regional elections in early April 2005 by the communists - the Partito della Refoundation ( " PRC " ) and called himself now " L' Unione ". This alliance was successful, so that it ran against Berlusconi also in the parliamentary elections of 2006. In primaries, the former Prime Minister Romano Prodi was appointed top candidate and won the election with 0.06% of votes gossamer projection. This would probably not have succeeded without a common electoral lists.
On 14 October 2007, the Democrats of the Sinistra and La Margherita merged with the Democratic Party ( Partito Democratico ), which is also associated with the center-left spectrum.
The coalition L' Unione was dissolved in view of the early parliamentary elections of 2008.
Former center-left coalitions in Italy
For decades reigned in Italy, a center-left coalition led by the Christian Democrats (DC). She was, however, repeatedly threatened by decay and unscheduled elections, especially because the socialists ( for example, under Bettino Craxi ) the dominance of the Christian Democrats was too strong.
The Christian Democrats went a changing coalitions of up to five parties and tended depending on coalition partners and prevailing DC wings slightly to the left or right. The four coalition partners of the DC were the Socialists (PSI ), the Social Democrats ( PSDI ), the Republicans (PRI ) and the Liberals (PLI ). In the 1980s this was called Fünferkoaltion Pentapartito.
When in 1992 the Milan prosecutors proved that several top politicians of the DC and the PSI were mired in corruption cases (see Mani Pulite ), got the DC in a serious crisis and the political spectrum subordinated himself entirely new. The DC was renamed again in 1994 to Partito Popolare Italiano ( PPI) - as in the founding in 1942 - and two larger groups split from her:
- The conservative camp formed the CCD ( Centro Cristiano Democratico )
- A left wing of the PPI founded the CS ( Cristiano Sociali ), the aufgingen in the Alliance of the Democratic Left ( Democrats of the Sinistra ).
- From the PPI and other moderate groups in turn went La Margherita, which already represented a kind of center-left grouping in itself: it is absorbed into the Partito Democratico.
Principal heir of the Christian Democratic tradition is now the UDC ( Unione di Centro).
Social Liberal coalition in Austria
At the 2006 national elections, the SPÖ and the LiF have an electoral alliance closed. The LiF - chief received a fixed place on the SPÖ list, but prominent LiF members recruited (including Karin Resetarits and Heide Schmidt) for the election of the SPÖ. Within the party, however, this came partly due to rejection. However, the 2006 election was very gratifying for both parties, since they are election winner, according to the official results.
Center-left cooperation in other European countries
- Grand coalition: in Germany and Austria
- In Austria and Germany only possible at the state or municipal level.
Some parties of Europe, which coalesced in both directions
- CDU, SPD and FDP in Germany
- ÖVP, SPÖ and the FPÖ and the Greens ( at state level ) in Austria
- South Tyrolean People's Party in Trentino / South Tyrol ( Italy)
- Plaid Cymru in Wales
- Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in Ireland
" Center-left " as a term for the localization of individual political actors
Especially in the media reporting on the political process in other states, the term " center-left " used to facilitate the readers the classification of political parties. The term is particularly used to describe party systems in which the programmatic several relevant parties will be construed as "links". In other European countries analog for use in German, there are words such as "center gauche " (French ) and "center -left " (English ). In the description of the German party system by the French- or English-language media, these terms are often used for political assessment of the SPD.