Union of Christian and Centre Democrats - Ideology

Ideology

Although it is the most vocal supporter of social conservatism in Italy (opposition to abortion, gay rights and euthanasia are some of its main concerns) and can be easily connected with the Christian right, UDC is usually identified with the political centre in Italy, thanks to its Christian Democratic roots.

However The Economist once described it as a right-wing, sometimes reactionary party, which "stretches a long way from the centre". Moreover, it wrote that many UDC members are "diehard corporatists who get most of their votes from the south, where many households depend either on welfare or on public-sector employment". Indeed the party is stronger in the South and especially in Sicily, where public-sector employment is widely spread.

UDC was an independent-minded and often reluctant member of the House of Freedoms coalition from 2002 to 2008. The party's leading figure, Pier Ferdinando Casini, is critical of the leadership of Silvio Berlusconi over the Italian centre-right and presents himself as a moderate alternative to populism, which, in his view, denotes the alliance between The People of Freedom (PdL) and Lega Nord. UDC's main goal, similarly to that of the Democratic Movement in France, is to form a government beyond the left-right divide. The dream of reassembling the remnants of the old Christian Democracy (DC) party and to control Italian politics from the centre is a longstanding one. In this respect Casini and his followers are trying to form the nucleus of a third force in Italian politics, hoping to enlist someday centrist members of the Democratic Party (PD), especially those coming from Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL). They have begun to do so through the New Pole for Italy, an alliance composed also of splinters from the centre-right (Future and Freedom) and the centre-left (Alliance for Italy).

It is difficult to say how much chances of success this "centrist option" has; indeed there are at least three problems with it. First, UDC is a much lighter force compared to Berlusconi's party, which draws much support from former Christian Democratic voters. Second, Italians like confrontational politics based on two alternative coalitions and many would support a two-party system, in place of the typically Italian fragmented political spectrum. Third, it is difficult to unite progressives from the PD with conservative UDC, and history does not always repeat itself: many political scientists think that the return of Christian Democracy is all but likely as political unity of Catholics (the core idea on which DC was based) is not repeatable because it will be anti-historical trying to unite again free-market liberals and economic interventionists, social conservatives and social liberals within a single party.

It is true that DL had many conservative Catholics in its ranks but their position was mostly social-democratic on other political issues. UDC is likely to attract some of them but until it can draw huge support from PdL voters its chances of growth are low. Although Casini and his followers are keen on presenting themselves as moderates, their staunchly social-conservative stance harm their prospects, as the PdL is popular also among secularised middle-class voters and has much more clout in the country than UDC. Casini knows that and, through the Union of the Centre, the embryo of a future "party of the nation", is trying to open his party to all the "centrists", the "Christian democrats", the "liberals" and the "reformers".

On the other issues, it is relevant to say that UDC is one of the main supporters of nuclear energy in the Italian political arena.