Italian Communism in Crisis

Abstract

Achille Occhetto's proposal to transform the Italian Communist Party (PCI) into a postcommunist leftist party provides an opportunity to test Hirschman's theory of organizational loyalty. Party members were given the choices of remaining loyal to a reconstituted party, voicing approval or disapproval over this proposal, or exiting the party. The hypotheses that exit and voice varied together and that a particular kind of loyalty inhibited exit were tested using data from two party congressi di sezioni. The results clearly show exit from the party by 'hardline' communists and to a Refounded Communist Party (RC). Additional tests of the relationship between the PCI and RC, as well as Italian election data, corroborate these findings and Hirschman's model.KEY W 0 R D S • communist party. exit, voice and loyalty. Italy