Italian Election Series - 1956 General Elections

PLI: 23.6% (+8.2), 169 seats (+53)
PSDI: 21% (+0.3), 145 seats (-18)
PSI: 10.4% (-0.1), 56 seats (+14)
MSI: 10.1% (=), 48 seats (+5)
PNM: 9.8% (-2.9), 47 seats (-12)
DC: 7.8% (-2.1), 42 seats (-26)
Pd'Az: 6.9% (-0.5), 40 seats (-7)
PCI: 5.8% (-4.8), 32 seats (-17)
PMP: 2.5 (new), 10 seats
Others: 2.1%, 5 seats

1956 was a triumphant year for the Italian right, which, for the first time since WW2, the combined liberals, christian-democrats, monarchists and fascists reached an absolute majority. However, this success was entirely due the spectacular gains of the Liberal party, which gained more than 8 points from its 1952 results and became the country's first party. This also marked the first time that a southern-based party topped the polls in an Italian election. The PLI's rise was uniform throughout the country, allowing it to come in first almost everywhere in the South (helped by the division of the monarchists) as well as in many northern constituencies.

The other right-wing parties, on the other hand, all lost or barely held ground compared to the last election. Among the monarchists, the more traditionally conservative PNM retained the bulk of its voters despite the offensive of its PMP splinter. With its standing unchanged since 1952, MSI narrowly lost its Lazio stronghold to the PLI tide, but came far ahead in the newly-readmitted Trieste territory, where nationalist resentment was very strong. For the third time in a row, DC saw its vote share decline and become an increasingly marginal party.

Despite being overtaken by the PLI, PSDI slightly improved its electoral performance, highlighting once again the preference of the Italian left-wing electorate for moderate parties. Indeed, the marxist PCI concurrently suffered a brutal collapse, losing almost half of its voters. This electoral disaster wiped off the map the "red core" of central Italy, allowing the PSDI to prevail almost entirely in the region. Holding its ground, PSI prevailed in its traditional strongholds, as well as in southern Tuscany where it benefited from transfers from the PCI. Finally, Pd'Az only barely held to Lussu's Sardinia stronghold while eroding half a percentage point.

Overall, the election's results showed an increasing polarization of the political landscape, with for the first time two political parties clearly emerging ahead of all the others and gathering almost 45% of the vote. This polarization was generally interpreted as a sign of the electorate's increasing fatigue toward political instability and weak governments. Thanks to the electoral system, the two victorious parties together had an absolute majority in both Houses, a fact that could prove essential in creating greater stability. Still, the two parties had radically diverging platforms and it remained to be seen whether they could work together.

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