ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 discussed the possible effect of a party’s ideology on the (lack of) openings in party leader selection rules. This chapter focuses on the communist ideology and its influence on two Italian parties, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and its heir, the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). The chapter first focuses on the communist ideology and practices in the PCI, while subsequently looks at the practices and discourses surrounding leader selection in the last years of the PCI and the first years of the PDS. After showing the strong links between the two parties, there is an in-depth analysis of the missed opening in the PDS leader selectorate in 1994 and the selection of Massimo D’Alema as PDS leader in 1994. The chapter shows the enduring importance and influence of the communist ideology and practices in these processes and briefly discusses their decline in the late 1990s and 2000s.
