La sfida riformista. Dalla nascita del Pds ai governi dell'Ulivo

Abstract

This essay reconstructs Alfredo Reichlin’s political role and intellectual orientation between the birth of the Democratic Party of the Left in 1991 and the early experience of the Ulivo governments. It argues that Reichlin interpreted the collapse of the First Republic through the category of a “crisis of the nation,” involving Italy’s economic fragility, public debt, productive structure, institutional weakness, and uncertain place in Europe. From this perspective, the PDS was called to perform a national and constituent function, building a reformist alliance capable of renewing capitalism, defending labour, and reconnecting political leadership with social responsibility. The essay follows Reichlin’s positions on the Ciampi government, alliances with Catholic reformism and productive forces, the rise of the Lega and Berlusconi, and the limits of an emergency-driven bipolarism.