View source for Forza Italia (1994)

{{Short description|Former Italian political party}}
{{about||the current political party|Forza Italia (2013)|other uses|Forza Italia (disambiguation)}}
{{Excessive citations|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode       = {{party color|Forza Italia}}
| name            = {{Lang|it|Forza Italia|italic=no}}
| logo            = Logo Forza Italia.svg
| abbreviation    = FI
| leader1_title   = President
| leader1_name    = [[Silvio Berlusconi]]
| leader2_title   = Vice President
| leader2_name    = {{ublist
 | [[Giulio Tremonti]] (2004–2009)
 | [[Roberto Formigoni]] (2008–2009)
}}
| founder         = Silvio Berlusconi
| foundation      = 18 January 1994
| dissolution     = 27 March 2009
| merged          = [[The People of Freedom]]
| headquarters    = Via dell'Umiltà 36, Rome
| student_wing    = ''Students for the Freedoms''
| youth_wing      = ''{{Lang|it|Forza Italia|italic=no}} – Young People for Freedom''
| membership_year = 2007
| membership      = 400,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/forza-italia-ha-raggiunto-quota-400mila-iscritti.html|title="Forza Italia ha raggiunto quota 400mila iscritti"|website=Il Giornale|date=10 March 2007 |access-date=6 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064226/http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/forza-italia-ha-raggiunto-quota-400mila-iscritti.html|archive-date=3 February 2018}}</ref>
| ideology        = {{ublist|class=nowrap
 | [[Liberal conservatism]]
 | [[Christian democracy]]
}}
| position        = [[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]]<ref name="CottaVerzichelli2007"/>
| national        = {{ublist
 | [[Pole of Freedoms]]/[[Pole of Good Government]] (1994)
 | [[Pole for Freedoms]] (1996–2001)
 | [[House of Freedoms]] (2001–2008)
}}
| international   =
| european        = [[European People's Party]] (1999–2009)
| europarl        = {{ublist
 | [[Forza Europa]] (1994–1995)
 | [[Union for Europe]] (1995–1998)
 | [[European People's Party group|EPP–ED]] (1998–2009)
}}
| anthem          = "[[w:it:Forza Italia (brano musicale)|Forza Italia]]"
| colours         = {{Color box|{{party color|Forza Italia}}|border=darkgray}} Azure
| flag            = <!-- Seek consensus on talk page before adding a party flag here -->
| country         = Italy
}}
'''{{Lang|it|Forza Italia|italic=no}}'''{{efn|The name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of [[wikt:forzare|''forzare'']], in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Italy" or "Go, Italy!". {{Lang|it|Forza Italia!}} was used as a sport slogan, and was also the slogan of [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] in the [[1987 Italian general election|1987 general election]] (see Giovanni Baccarin, ''Che fine ha fatto la DC?'', Gregoriana, Padova 2000). See article body for details.}} ('''FI'''; {{lit|Forward Italy|Come on Italy|Let's Go Italy}}){{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name=Parties-and-Elections>{{cite web|url=http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/italy.html|title=Italy|website=Parties and Elections in Europe|first=Wolfram|last=Nordsieck|access-date=18 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031081315/http://www.parties-and-elections.de/italy.html|archive-date=31 October 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Romano2010">{{cite book|author=Michael J. Romano|title=CliffsNotes AP European History with CD-ROM|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GvAnEkaxMMwC&pg=PA231|date=4 October 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-55100-4|pages=231–}}</ref><ref name="BadieBerg-Schlosser2011">{{cite book|author1=Bertrand Badie|author2=Dirk Berg-Schlosser|author3=Leonardo Morlino|title=International Encyclopedia of Political Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wr91AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1796|date=7 September 2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6649-7|pages=1796–}}</ref><ref name="JansenHecke2011">{{cite book |author1=Thomas Jansen|author2=Steven Van Hecke|title=At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXEA8XGdEb8C&pg=PA63|year=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-19414-6|page=63}}</ref><ref name="Lansford2015">{{cite book|author=Tom Lansford|title=Political Handbook of the World 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNGfBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT3066|date=24 March 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4833-7155-9|pages=3066–}}</ref><ref name="Viola2015">{{cite book|author=Donatella M. Viola|title=Routledge Handbook of European Elections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |date=14 August 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-50363-7|pages=115–}}</ref><ref name="GundleParker2002">{{cite book|author1=Stephen Gundle|author2=Simon Parker|title=The New Italian Republic: From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to Berlusconi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXiJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=1 November 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-80791-8|pages=135–}}</ref><ref name="MairMüller2004">{{cite book|author1=Peter Mair|author2=Wolfgang C Müller|author3=Fritz Plasser|title=Political Parties and Electoral Change: Party Responses to Electoral Markets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTE4psIODgcC&pg=PA144|date=9 June 2004|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-4719-6|pages=144–}}</ref><ref name="Koff2013">{{cite book|author=Stephen P. Koff|title=Italy: From the 1st to the 2nd Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jdqFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|date=7 March 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-64369-1|pages=44–}}</ref><ref name="Colomer2016">{{cite book|author=J. Colomer|title=The Handbook of Electoral System Choice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzdaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244|date=5 January 2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-52274-9|pages=244–}}</ref>}} was a [[centre-right politics|centre-right]]<ref name="CottaVerzichelli2007"/> [[liberal conservatism|liberal-conservative]]<ref name=Parties-and-Elections/><ref name="RuzzaFella128">{{Cite book |author1=Ruzza |author2=Fella |title=Re-inventing the Italian Right |year=2009 |page=128}}</ref><ref name=Orsina>{{Cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Orsina |title=Berlusconism and Italy: A Historical Interpretation |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014 |page=169}}</ref><ref name="ErssonLane1999">{{cite book|author1=Svante Ersson|author2=Jan-Erik Lane|title=Politics and Society in Western Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qw62oX96310C&pg=PA108|access-date=17 August 2012|year=1999 |publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-0-7619-5862-8|page=108}}</ref> [[List of political parties in Italy|political party]] in [[Italy]], with [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]],<ref name="Moroni">Chiara Moroni, {{Lang|it|Da Forza Italia al Popolo della Libertà}}, Carocci, Rome 2008</ref><ref name="CottaVerzichelli2007">{{cite book|author1=Maurizio Cotta|author2=Luca Verzichelli|title=Political Institutions of Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-FAZHBDqggC&pg=PA39|access-date=24 August 2012|date=12 May 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-928470-2|page=39}}</ref><ref name="Louis2011">{{cite book|author=Carol Diane St Louis|title=Negotiating Change: Approaches to and the Distributional Implications of Social Welfare and Economic Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EW-zz_H54LMC&pg=PA132|access-date=17 August 2012|year=2011|publisher=Stanford University|page=132|id=STANFORD:RW793BX2256}}</ref> [[liberalism|liberal]]<ref name="Moroni"/><ref name="CottaVerzichelli2007"/><ref name="Louis2011"/><ref name="Massari">Oreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004</ref> (especially [[economic liberalism]]),<ref>{{cite web|title=The state of the right: Italy|url=https://www.fondapol.org/en/study/1886|website=fondapol}}</ref> [[social democracy|social democratic]]<ref name="Moroni"/> and [[populism|populist]]<ref name="Woods284144">{{Cite book |first=Dwayne |last=Woods |title=The Many Faces of Populism in Italy: The Northern League and Berlusconism |work=The Many Faces of Populism: Current Perspectives |publisher=Emerald Group |year=2014 |pages=28, 41–44}}</ref><ref name="RuzzaFella136218">{{Cite book |author1=Ruzza |author2=Fella |title=Re-inventing the Italian Right |year=2009 |pages=136–140, 217–218}}</ref><ref name="Beyme2011_5965">{{Cite book |first=Klaus |last=von Beyme |author-link=Klaus von Beyme |title=Representative democracy and the populist temptation |work=The Future of Representative Democracy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=59, 64–65}}</ref> tendencies. It was founded by [[Silvio Berlusconi]], who served as [[Prime Minister of Italy]] four times.

The party was founded in December 1993 and won its first [[1994 Italian general election|general election]] soon afterwards in March 1994. It was the main member of the [[Pole of Freedoms]]/[[Pole of Good Government]], [[Pole for Freedoms]] and House of Freedoms coalitions. Throughout its existence, the party was characterised by a strong reliance on the personal image and charisma of its leader (it has been called a "personality party"<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Jörg |last=Seisselberg |title=Conditions of success and political problems of a 'media-mediated personality-party': The case of Forza Italia |journal=West European Politics |volume=19 |issue=4 |year=1996 |pages=715–743 |doi=10.1080/01402389608425162}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Paul |last=Ginsborg |author-link=Paul Ginsborg |title=Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony |publisher=Verso |year=2005 |page=86}}</ref> or Berlusconi's "personal party"),<ref>{{Cite book |first=Mauro |last=Calise |title=Il partito personale |publisher=Laterza |year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=McDonnell |title=Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties |year=2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first1=Jean |last1=Blondel |first2=Niccolò |last2=Conti |title=Italy |work=Political Parties and Democracy: Contemporary Western Europe and Asia |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |page=88}}</ref> and the skillful use of media campaigns, especially via television.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Gianpietro |last=Mazzoleni |title=TV Political Advertising in Italy: When Politicians Are Afraid |work=The SAGE Handbook of Political Advertising |publisher=SAGE |year=2006 |page=251}}</ref> The party's organisation and ideology depended heavily on its leader, so much so that its appeal to voters was based on Berlusconi's personality more than on its ideology or programme.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Dwayne |last=Woods |title=The Many Faces of Populism in Italy: The Northern League and Berlusconism |work=The Many Faces of Populism: Current Perspectives |publisher=Emerald Group |year=2014 |pages=42–43}}</ref>

In November 2008, the national council of the party, presided by [[Alfredo Biondi]], voted to merge Forza Italia into [[The People of Freedom]] (PdL),<ref name="National Council">{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_novembre_21/forza_italia_diventa_pdl_9a0f5cb6-b7e3-11dd-8fa8-00144f02aabc.shtml|title=Forza Italia si scioglie, ora è Pdl Berlusconi: "Dal '94 nulla è cambiato"|work=Corriere della Sera|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922075400/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1994/febbraio/04/partito_nato_non_segretario_presidente_co_0_9402048072.shtml|archive-date=22 September 2015}}</ref> Berlusconi's new political vehicle, whose official foundation took place in March 2009. A [[new Forza Italia]] was established by Berlusconi as PdL's legal successor in 2013.

== History ==
=== Foundation (1993–1994) ===

Forza Italia was formed in 1993 by [[Silvio Berlusconi]], a successful businessman and owner of four of the main private television stations in Italy, along with [[Antonio Martino]], {{interlanguage link|Mario Valducci|it}}, [[Antonio Tajani]], [[Marcello Dell'Utri]], [[Cesare Previti]] and [[Giuliano Urbani]].

Italy was shaken by a series of corruption scandals known as ''[[Tangentopoli]]'' and the subsequent police investigation, called ''[[Mani pulite]]''. This led to the disappearance of the five parties which governed Italy from 1947: [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]], [[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]], [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]], [[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]] and [[Italian Republican Party|PRI]] (they formed a successful five-party coalition called ''[[Pentapartito]]'' from 1983 to 1991, and then governed without PRI from 1991 to 1994) and to the end of the so-called [[History of the Italian Republic#The First Republic (1948–1994)|First Republic]].

Forza Italia's aim was to attract moderate voters who were "disoriented, political orphans and who risked being unrepresented" (as Berlusconi described them), especially if the [[Democratic Party of the Left]] (the direct heirs of the [[Italian Communist Party]]) had been able to win the next election and enter in government for the first time since 1947.

The establishment of Forza Italia was supported in terms of finance, personnel and logistics by Berlusconi's [[Fininvest]] corporation: The area managers of its advertisement branch ''Publitalia '80'' (managed by Dell'Utri)<ref name="Hopkin2005_87">{{Cite book |author=Hopkin |title=Forza Italia after Ten Years |year=2005 |pages=87}}</ref> organised the selection of FI candidates, its marketing network staffed the opinion research centre ''Diakron'' that surveyed the "market potential" of the new party and the financial intermediaries of Fininvest subsidiary ''Programma Italia'' encouraged the launch of Forza Italia clubs.<ref name="RuzzaFella107">{{Cite book |author1=Ruzza |author2=Fella |title=Re-inventing the Italian Right |year=2009 |pages=107}}</ref> The new party's campaigning was strongly dependent on Fininvest's TV stations and PR resources.<ref name="HopkinIgnazi57">{{Cite book |first1=Jonathan |last1=Hopkin |first2=Piero |last2=Ignazi |title=Newly governing parties in Italy: Comparing the PDS/DS, Lega Nord and Forza Italia |work=New Parties in Government: In power for the first time |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |page=57}}</ref> This earned Forza Italia labels like "virtual",<ref>{{Cite book |first=Patrick |last=McCarthy |title=''Forza Italia'': The Overwhelming Success and the Consequent Problems of a Virtual Party |work=Italian Politics: The Year of the Tycoon |publisher=Westview |year=1996 |pages=37–55}}</ref> "plastic"<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Ilvo |last=Diamanti |title=Dal partito di plastica alla Repubblica fondata sui media |journal=Comunicazione Politica |volume=5 |number=1 |date=Spring 2004 |pages=51–64}}</ref> or "business-firm party".<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Ilvo |last=Diamanti |author-link=Ilvo Diamanti |title=Partiti, modelli |journal=Politica ed Economia: Almanacco |year=1995 |pages=71–80}}</ref><ref name="HopkinPaolucci"/><ref>{{Cite book |author=Hopkin |title=Forza Italia after Ten Years |year=2005 |pages=84}}</ref> In her 2001 study of the party, political scientist Emanuela Poli described Forza Italia as "a mere diversification of Fininvest in the political market".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Emanuela |last=Poli |title=Forza Italia: strutture, leadership e radicamento territoriale |publisher=Il Mulino |year=2001 |page=41}}</ref> The case of Forza Italia was unprecedented as never before had a large political party been launched by a business corporation.<ref name="RuzzaFella107"/> Only slowly it transformed into a mass-membership organisation. It took four years until the first party congress was held.<ref name="Hopkin2005_87"/> To extend its representation in different regions, FI often recruited established politicians of the "old" parties, mainly DC and PSI, who defected to the new party, bringing their local clientele with them.<ref name="HopkinIgnazi57"/>

FI's political programme was strongly influenced by the manifesto "In Search of Good Government" ''(Alla ricerca del buongoverno)'' authored in late 1993 by Giuliano Urbani who was then a political science professor at Milan's private [[Bocconi University]] and an occasional collaborator of Fininvest. It denounced corruption, dominance of political parties and remnants of communism as Italy's ills, while advocating market economy, the assertion of civil society and more efficient politics as the solutions.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Patrick |last=McCarthy |title=Forza Italia: The new politics and old values of a changing Italy |work=The New Italian Republic: From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to Berlusconi |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |page=138}}</ref> In a couple of months Forza Italia became one of the leading Italian parties, achieving a large consensus through an accurate strategy of communication and pounding electoral spots aired by the [[Mediaset]] TV channels.<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://doaj.org/article/549028bce12a43f8946be12cbfe7fe1b | journal = Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta | year = 2016 | volume = 49 | issue = 4 | pages = 117–130 (abstract) | language = en, ru | format = PDF | title = The Phenomenon of Silvio Berlusconi | oclc = 8207495904 | issn = 2071-8160| archive-url = https://archive.today/20200910174514/https://doaj.org/article/549028bce12a43f8946be12cbfe7fe1b | archive-date = 10 September 2020 | url-status = live}}</ref>

=== A short stint in power (1994–1995) ===
[[File:Berlusconi-comizio.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Berlusconi during a Forza Italia rally in 1994]]
A few months after its creation, Forza Italia came to national power after the [[1994 Italian general election|1994 general election]] as the head of a [[political coalition]] called [[Pole of Freedoms]]/[[Pole of Good Government]], composed of [[Lega Nord]], [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]], [[Christian Democratic Centre]] and [[Union of the Centre (1994)|Union of the Centre]].

Silvio Berlusconi was sworn in May 1994 as Prime Minister of Italy in a [[Berlusconi I Cabinet|government]] in which the most important cabinet posts were held by fellow Forza Italia members: [[Antonio Martino]] was
Foreign Minister, [[Cesare Previti]] Defence Minister, [[Alfredo Biondi]] Justice Minister and [[Giulio Tremonti]] (at the time an independent member of Parliament) Finance Minister.

In the [[1994 European Parliament election in Italy|1994 European Parliament election]] held in June, Forza Italia was placed first nationally, with 30.6% of the vote, electing 27 [[Member of the European Parliament|MEPs]]. The party did not join an existing [[Political groups of the European Parliament|group in the European Parliament]], instead forming the new group [[Forza Europa]], composed entirely of Forza Italia MEPs.<ref name="Sidjanski2000">{{cite book|author=Dusan Sidjanski|title=The Federal Future of Europe: From the European Community to the European Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZeFnTj7Xk58C&pg=PA320|year=2000|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-11075-9|page=320}}</ref>

The first Berlusconi-led government had a short life and fell in December, when Lega Nord left the coalition, after disagreements over pension reform and the first ''avviso di garanzia'' (preliminary notice of an investigation) for Berlusconi, passed by Milan prosecutors. Forza Italia's leader was replaced as prime minister by [[Lamberto Dini]], an independent politician who had been the administration's Treasury Minister. No members of Forza Italia joined the new government and the party leader was relegated to opposition. However, the party obtained substantial successes in the [[1995 Italian regional elections]], both in the North (winning in [[Piedmont]], Lombardy and [[Veneto]]) and the South ([[Campania]], Apulia and [[Calabria]]).

=== Five years of opposition (1996–2001) ===
In 1996 the [[Pole for Freedoms]] coalition led by Forza Italia lost that year's [[1996 Italian general election|general election]] and began what Berlusconi called "the crossing of the desert", something that could have proved fatal for such a young and unstructured party. Between 1996 and 1998, the party started to strengthen its organisation under [[Claudio Scajola]], a former [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrat]] who served as national coordinator of Forza Italia from 1996 to 2001.

In December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the [[European People's Party]],<ref name="JansenHecke2011 2">{{cite book|author1=Thomas Jansen|author2=Steven Van Hecke|title=At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXEA8XGdEb8C&pg=PA359|access-date=19 August 2012|date=28 June 2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-19413-9|page=359–}}</ref> of which [[Antonio Tajani]], the party leader of Forza Italia in the [[European Parliament]], became a vice president. In the same year, the party scored well (25.2% of votes) in the [[1999 European Parliament election in Italy|European Parliament election of 1999]].

In the Italian regional elections of 2000, the Pole for Freedoms, with the support of Lega Nord, won in eight out of fifteen regions (all the most populous ones, except for [[Campania]]), while three members of Forza Italia were re-elected as presidents of the Region in [[Piedmont]] ([[Enzo Ghigo]]), [[Lombardy]] ([[Roberto Formigoni]]), and [[Veneto]] ([[Giancarlo Galan]]), together with three more elected for the first time in [[Liguria]] ([[Sandro Biasotti]]), [[Apulia]] ([[Raffaele Fitto]]) and [[Calabria]] ([[Giuseppe Chiaravalloti]]).

The party regained power in the [[2001 Italian general election|general election of 2001]], gaining 29.4% of the votes with [[Giorgio La Malfa]]'s tiny [[Italian Republican Party]], in a new coalition called [[House of Freedoms]] (CdL) and composed mainly of the National Alliance, Lega Nord, Christian Democratic Centre and [[United Christian Democrats]] (the last two parties merged in 2002 to form the [[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]], UDC).

=== Five years in government (2001–2006) ===
[[File:President George W. Bush shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Silvio Berlusconi with U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] in 2005]]
In June 2001, after the huge success in May elections, Silvio Berlusconi was returned head of the Italian government, the longest-serving [[Berlusconi II Cabinet|cabinet]] in the history of the Italian republic. Again all key ministerial posts were given to Forza Italia members: Interior ([[Claudio Scajola]] 2001–2002, [[Giuseppe Pisanu]] 2002–2006), Defence ([[Antonio Martino]] 2001–2006), Finance ([[Giulio Tremonti]], 2001–2004 and 2005–2006), Industry ([[Antonio Marzano]] 2001–2005, Claudio Scajola 2005–2006) and Foreign Affairs ([[Franco Frattini]], 2002–2004). Additionally, [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] leader [[Gianfranco Fini]] was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister from 2004 to 2006, while [[Roberto Castelli]], senior figure of [[Lega Nord]] was Justice Minister from 2001 to 2006.

In [[2004 European Parliament election in Italy|2004 European elections]], Forza Italia was second place nationally, receiving 20.1% of the vote and returning 16 MEPs.

In national office, the government's popularity kept declining steadily year after year. Regional elections in April 2005 were a serious blow for the party, which however remained strong in the [[Northern Italy|northern regions]], such as [[Lombardy]] and [[Veneto]], and somewhere in the [[Southern Italy|South]], where [[Sicily]] was a stronghold. After this disappointing electoral performance the cabinet was reshuffled, due to the insistence of the [[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]]'s leaders, and Berlusconi formed his [[Berlusconi III Cabinet|third cabinet]].

During his five years in office, Berlusconi government passed a series of reforms: a pension system reform, a labour market reform, a judiciary reform and a constitutional reform – the latter rejected by a referendum in June 2006. In foreign policy he shifted the country's position to more closeness to the United States, while in economic policy he was not able to deliver the tax cuts he had openly promised throughout all 2001 electoral campaign.

=== Toward The People of Freedom (2006–2009) ===
[[File:Silvio Berlusconi (CS 4).jpg|thumb|right|240px|Berlusconi during a rally in 2008]]
In the [[2006 Italian general election|2006 general election]] the party was present with a slightly different logo, with the words "Berlusconi President" (''Berlusconi Presidente''). It was the only party to use the word "President" in its logo. In the election for the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]], FI scored 23.7% and 137 seats, in those for the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate]] 24.0%, without counting [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol|Trentino-Alto Adige]], whose seats were contested on [[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] basis and which is a left-wing stronghold, due to its alliance with the autonomist [[South Tyrolean People's Party]]). The incumbent Berlusconi-led government narrowly lost to [[The Union (political coalition)|The Union]] coalition, which returned [[Romano Prodi]] as prime minister, relegating Forza Italia and its House of Freedoms allies to opposition.

On 31 July 2007 Berlusconi's protegee and possible successor [[Michela Vittoria Brambilla]] registered the name and the logo of the "Freedom Party" (''Partito della Libertà'') apparently with Berlusconi's backing. On 18 November, after Forza Italia claimed to have collected the signatures of more than 7 million Italians (including [[Umberto Bossi]]) against [[Prodi II Cabinet|Romano Prodi's second government]] to ask the President of the Republic [[Giorgio Napolitano]] to call a fresh election,<ref>[http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/notizie/rubriche/daassociare/visualizza_new.html_65041167.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120051659/http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/notizie/rubriche/daassociare/visualizza_new.html_65041167.html|date=20 November 2007}}</ref> Berlusconi announced that Forza Italia would have soon merged or transformed into [[The People of Freedom]] (PdL) party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/politica/07_novembre_18/berlusconi_partito_popolo_italiano.shtml|title=Oggi nasce il partito del popolo italiano|work=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201937/http://www.corriere.it/politica/07_novembre_18/berlusconi_partito_popolo_italiano.shtml|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref>

After the sudden fall of the [[Prodi II Cabinet]] on 24 January 2008, the break-up of [[The Union (political coalition)|The Union]] coalition and the subsequent political crisis paving the way towards a new general election, Berlusconi hinted on 25 January that Forza Italia would have probably contested its final election and the new party would have been officially founded after that election. In an atmosphere of reconciliation with [[Gianfranco Fini]], Berlusconi also stated that the new party could have seen the participation of other parties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_gennaio_25/berlusconi_napoli_a48218f8-cb73-11dc-9e0e-0003ba99c667.shtml|title=Via l'Ici e stretta sulle intercettazioni|work=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201351/http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_gennaio_25/berlusconi_napoli_a48218f8-cb73-11dc-9e0e-0003ba99c667.shtml|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> Finally, on 8 February, Berlusconi and Fini agreed to form a joint list under the banner of "The People of Freedom", allied with Lega Nord.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200802articoli/29934girata.asp |title=Svolta di Berlusconi, arriva il Pdl: "Forza Italia-An sotto stesso simbolo" |work=La Stampa |date=8 February 2008 |access-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029214056/http://www1.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200802articoli/29934girata.asp |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref> In the [[2008 Italian general election|2008 general election]] the PdL won 37.4% and a majority in both chambers, thanks to the alliance with Lega Nord (8.3%). Soon after the election Berlusconi formed his [[Berlusconi IV Cabinet|fourth government]].

On 21 November 2008 the national council of the party, presided over by [[Alfredo Biondi]] and attended by Berlusconi himself, officially decided the dissolution of Forza Italia into [[The People of Freedom]] (PdL), whose official foundation took place on 27 March 2009.

=== Revival (2013) ===
{{main|Forza Italia (2013)}}
In June 2013 Berlusconi announced the upcoming revival of Forza Italia, and the transformation of the People of Freedom into a centre-right [[political coalition|coalition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2013-06-28/berlusconi-sostegno-convinto-leale-201248.shtml|title=Berlusconi: Forza Italia back and I will be driving it'|work=Il Sole 24 Ore|date=28 June 2013|access-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023062203/http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2013-06-28/berlusconi-sostegno-convinto-leale-201248.shtml|archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref> The modern-day [[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]] was launched on 18 September 2013<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/507145/20130918/berlusconi-forza-italia-video-message-trial-senate.htm|title=Silvio Berlusconi Relaunches Forza Italia on Senate Ousting Vote|first=Umberto|last=Bacchi|date=18 September 2013|website=International Business Times|access-date=6 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060416/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/507145/20130918/berlusconi-forza-italia-video-message-trial-senate.htm|archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref> and the PdL was dissolved into the new party on 16 November 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-berlusconi-idUSBRE9AE15M20131116 |title=Berlusconi breaks away from Italian government after party splits |access-date=16 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232953/https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/16/us-italy-berlusconi-idUSBRE9AE15M20131116 |archive-date=2 December 2013 |work=Reuters |date=16 November 2013 }}</ref>

== Ideology ==
{{Conservatism in Italy}}
Forza Italia was a centre-right party, formed mainly by former members of [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]], the [[Italian Socialist Party]] and the [[Italian Liberal Party]]. The ideology of the party ranged from [[libertarianism]] to [[social democracy]] (often referred to as "[[liberal socialism]]" in Italy), including elements of the [[Catholic social teaching]] and the [[social market economy]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.forzaitalia.it/images/cdv/cartadeivalori.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207094359/http://www.forzaitalia.it/images/cdv/cartadeivalori.pdf|url-status=dead|title=copertina860x280.qxd|archive-date=7 February 2007}}</ref>{{independent source inline|date=December 2014}} The party was a member of the [[European People's Party]] (EPP) and presented itself as the party of renewal and modernization. The core values of Forza Italia were "[[Political freedom|freedom]]" and the "[[individualism|centrality of the individual]]".<ref name="Moroni"/> From a comparative perspective the ideology of Forza Italia has been characterized as liberal conservative,<ref name="RuzzaFella128"/><ref name="EuroPol">{{cite web |url=http://www.europe-politique.eu/wiki/Forza_Italia_%28FI%29 |first=Laurent |last=de Boissieu |title=Forza Italia (FI) |publisher=Europe Politique |date=17 February 2007 |access-date=4 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727072924/http://www.europe-politique.eu/wiki/Forza_Italia_(FI) |archive-date=27 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Maine">[http://academic.umf.maine.edu/~erb/classes/1eu3.htm European politics] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070815161459/http://academic.umf.maine.edu/~erb/classes/1eu3.htm |date=15 August 2007 }}</ref><ref name="geocities">{{cite web |url=http://es.geocities.com/sucellus23/telos27.htm |title=What is Italy's National Alliance? |publisher=Webcitation |access-date=28 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018192752/http://es.geocities.com/sucellus23/telos27.htm |archive-date=18 October 2009 }}</ref> or [[conservative liberalism|conservative liberal]],<ref name="Blome2016">{{cite book|author=Agnes Blome|title=The Politics of Work-Family Policy Reforms in Germany and Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GjslDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn= 978-1-31-755437-0|page=116}}</ref><ref name="Book1">{{Cite book |first1=Luciano |last1=Bardi |first2=Piero |last2=Ignazi |title=The Italian Party System: The Effective Magnitude of an Earthquake |work=The Organization of Political Parties in Southern Europe |publisher=Greenwood |year=1998 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJujgAT1s8AC&q=forza+italia+conservative-liberal&pg=PA104 |isbn=978-0-275-95612-7}}</ref> national conservative,<ref name="Mair">{{Cite book|last1=Mair|first1=Peter|author-link=Peter Mair|last2=Laver|first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Laver|last3=Gallagher|first3=Michael|author3-link=Michael Gallagher (academic)|title=Representative Government in Modern Europe|place=Bosten|publisher=McGraw Hill|year=2001|isbn=978-0-07-118095-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/representativego0000gall_s3i5}}</ref> and liberal.<ref name="Massari"/>

[[File:Silvio Berlusconi to a joint session of Congress.jpg|thumb|240px|Berlusconi addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress in 2006]]
[[Alessandro Campi]] has written that "the political culture of Forza Italia – a curious and, on many respects, untold mixture of 'liberalism' and 'democratic [[populism]]' – deserves to be described as an 'anti-ideological ideology', ... as a synthesis or fusion of very diverse political families and traditions (from [[liberal Catholicism]] to [[social conservatism]], from [[reformism|reformist socialism]] to [[economic liberalism]]), kept together by the mobilizing appeal to 'freedom'."<ref name="Moroni"/> [[Chiara Moroni (professor)|Chiara Moroni]], who explains Forza Italia's ideology as a mixture of liberal, [[Christian-democratic]] and social-democratic values (united in the concept of "popular liberalism" in party documents), wrote that "Berlusconi offered to voters liberal values through a populist style" and that "Forza Italia has made the liberal political ideal popular" among voters, so that "it was spread and shared by broad and heterogenous sectors of the Italian population".<ref name="Moroni"/>

The electoral base of Forza Italia was highly heterogeneous and the ideological differences among its voters are explained also by its different regional constituencies; while voters from the North tended to support the original libertarian line of the party, voters from the South tended to be more [[statism|statist]].<ref>Donatella Campus, ''L'anti-politica al governo. De Gaulle, Reagan, Berlusconi'', Il Mulino, Bologna 2007</ref> Both its Northern strongholds ([[Lombardy]] and Veneto) and its Southern strongholds ([[Sicily]] and Apulia) were once dominated by the Christian Democracy party; while in the South most leading members of Forza Italia are former Christian Democrats, the party was highly influenced also by liberals in the North.<ref>Ilvo Diamanti, ''Bianco, rosso, verde... e azzurro. Mappe e colori dell'Italia politica'', Il Mulino, Bologna 2003</ref>

Forza Italia claimed to be a fresh new party, with no ties with the last governments of the so-called [[History of the Italian Republic#The First Republic (1948–1994)|First Republic]], and at the same time to be the heir of the best political traditions of Italy: [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrat]] [[Alcide De Gasperi]], [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|Social Democrat]] [[Giuseppe Saragat]], [[Italian Liberal Party|Liberal]] [[Luigi Einaudi]] and [[Italian Republican Party|Republican]] [[Ugo La Malfa]] were considered as party icons.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

The "Secular Creed", that was also the preamble to the party's constitution, described the party in this way: {{blockquote|Forza Italia is a liberal party although not an elitist one, indeed a popular liberal-democratic party; it is a Catholic party although not a confessional one; it is a secular party, although not an intolerant and secularist one; it is a national party, although not a centralist one.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.forzaitalia.it/images/grafica-2007/chi-siamo/credolaico.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410065955/http://www.forzaitalia.it/images/grafica-2007/chi-siamo/credolaico.pdf|url-status=dead|title=credo|archive-date=10 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forzaitalia.it/speciali/statutoforzaitalia04.pdf|title=Statuto intero|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207165745/http://www.forzaitalia.it/speciali/statutoforzaitalia04.pdf|archive-date=7 February 2009}}</ref>}}

Forza Italia presented itself as a bridge between Catholics and non-Catholics, who have been previously divided in the political system of the First Republic, and "the union of three political-cultural areas: that of liberal and popular Catholicism, that of secular, liberal and republican humanism and that of liberal socialism".<ref name=autogenerated1 /> In a speech during a party congress in 1998, Berlusconi himself proclaimed: "our liberal vision of the State is perfectly in agreement with the Catholic social teaching".<ref>Berlusconi, Silvio, ''L'Italia che ho in mente'', Mondadori, Milan 2000, pp. 122–123</ref>{{independent source inline|date=December 2014}}

The "Secular Creed" of the party explains that FI was a party that primarily underlined [[Liberty|freedom]] and the centrality of the individual, which are basic principles of both liberalism<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/li/liberali.html|title=Liberalism Essay – Bartleby|website=bartleby.com|access-date=6 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512074542/http://www.bartleby.com/65/li/liberali.html|archive-date=12 May 2008}}</ref> and the Catholic social teaching, often connected in party official documents: {{blockquote|We believe in freedom, in all its several and vital forms: in the freedom of thought, in the freedom of expression, in religious freedom, of every religion, in the freedom of association. ... Freedom is not graciously conceded by the State, because it comes before it. It is a natural right, which belongs to us as we are human beings and it itself rather lays the foundations of the State. ... We believe that the State should be at the service of citizens, and not citizens at the service of the State. We believe that the State should be the servant of the citizen and not the citizen the servant of the State. The citizen is sovereign. For this, we believe concretely in the individual ... . We believe in the values of our Christian tradition, in the life values which cannot be renounced, in common good, in freedom of education and learning, in peace, in solidarity, in justice, in tolerance ... .<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forza-italia.it/images/grafica-2007/chi-siamo/credolaico.pdf|title=credo|website=archive-it.org|access-date=6 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081218164652/http://www.forza-italia.it/images/grafica-2007/chi-siamo/credolaico.pdf|archive-date=18 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}

In 2008 Berlusconi stated that:
{{blockquote|We want a social market economy. A democracy cannot afford citizens in poor conditions. With our book on welfare we tackle the needs of the weakest families. It is decidedly a left-wing policy. This government which centrist, liberal, with Catholics and reformists, intends to advance with policies that the left-wing promises by word of mouth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_luglio_25/berlusconi_conferenza_governo_b4134d24-5a33-11dd-bcb1-00144f02aabc.shtml |title=Berlusconi, via alle tre riforme "Facciamo una politica di sinistra" |work=Corriere della Sera |access-date=4 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502072152/http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_luglio_25/berlusconi_conferenza_governo_b4134d24-5a33-11dd-bcb1-00144f02aabc.shtml |archive-date=2 May 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

[[Sandro Bondi]], a leading member of the party, wrote:
{{blockquote|Forza Italia considers liberal classics as [[Benedetto Croce|Croce]], [[Luigi Sturzo|Sturzo]], [[Friedrich Hayek|Hayek]] and [[Luigi Einaudi|Einaudi]] as reference authors. In particular, it hark back to the [[social market economy]] of [[Wilhelm Röpke|Röpke]], which was conceived in reference to the [[Catholic social teaching|traditional social teaching of the Church]]. Forza Italia has imparted a deep cultural innovation, combining the language of the Church tradition with the liberal and reformist thought.<ref name="Moroni"/>}}

[[File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Congress Rome 2006 (146).jpg|thumb|right|240px|Berlusconi during a [[European People's Party]] meeting]]
The party included also non-[[Catholic]] members, but they were a minority, and it was less [[Secularism|secular]] in its policies than [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] of Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2005/09/21/merkels-cdu-fared-worse-than-expected/|title=Merkel's CDU Fared Worse Than Expected|publisher=Amconmag|date=21 September 2005|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604165630/http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2005/09/21/merkels-cdu-fared-worse-than-expected/|archive-date=4 June 2011}}</ref> The party usually gave to its members freedom of conscience on moral issues (and hence a [[conscience vote|free vote]]), as in the case of the referendum on [[stem cell|stem-cell research]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/maggio/15/Fecondazione_divisi_vertici_Forza_Italia_co_8_050515047.shtml|title=Fecondazione, divisi i vertici di Forza Italia|newspaper=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520042430/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/maggio/15/Fecondazione_divisi_vertici_Forza_Italia_co_8_050515047.shtml|archive-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> but leading members of the party, including [[Silvio Berlusconi]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/giugno/15/Berlusconi_Margherita_venga_con_noi_co_8_050615023.shtml|title=Berlusconi: la Margherita venga con noi moderati|newspaper=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520042504/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/giugno/15/Berlusconi_Margherita_venga_con_noi_co_8_050615023.shtml|archive-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> [[Giulio Tremonti]] and [[Marcello Pera]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/maggio/29/Pera_difesa_dell_astensione_scontro_co_8_050529021.shtml|title=Pera e la difesa dell' astensione, scontro tra i poli|newspaper=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520042515/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/maggio/29/Pera_difesa_dell_astensione_scontro_co_8_050529021.shtml|archive-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> (who is himself non-Catholic, although friend of Pope [[Benedict XVI]]), spoke in favour of "abstention" (as asked by the Catholic Church,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/gennaio/18/Fecondazione_Ruini_chiama_all_astensione_co_9_050118017.shtml|title=Fecondazione, Ruini chiama all' astensione|newspaper=Corriere della Sera|date=24 December 2009|access-date=4 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520042523/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/gennaio/18/Fecondazione_Ruini_chiama_all_astensione_co_9_050118017.shtml|archive-date=20 May 2011}}</ref> to not surpass the 50% of turnout needed for making the [[2005 Italian fertility laws referendum|referendum]] legally binding). While Pera campaigned hard for the success of the boycott along with most FI members, both Berlusconi and Tremonti explicitly said that "abstention" was their personal opinion, not the official one of the party.

The political scientist [[Giovanni Orsina]] has defined ''[[Berlusconism]]'', as he terms the ideology of Forza Italia and its leader, as an "emulsion of populism and liberalism", more specifically right-liberalism. According to him, in the initial phase, both elements were represented about equally, only after 2000 pro-market liberal positions had receded in favour of more socially conservative ones. As the main ideologic themes of ''Berlusconism'', Orsina identified the myth of the "good" [[civil society]] (as opposed to the state apparatus), a "friendly, [[Minarchism|minimal state]]" (providing services to citizens rather than regulating their lives), "hypopolitics" (i.e. the containment of political conflicts, after the hyper-politisation of Italian society during the "First Republic") and the identification of a "new virtuous elite". The concepts of a good civil society and hypopolitics were both liberal and populist; while the minimal state was a mainly liberal idea and the new virtuous elite a chiefly populist one. According to Orsina, ''Berlusconism'' sanctified "the people" that embodied all virtues while being "betrayed" by the (old) elites, a typical element of populist ideologies. However, Berlusconi viewed "the people" as a pluralistic and diverse collection of individuals, not an ethnically, historically and culturally homogeneous unit.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Orsina |title=Berlusconism and Italy: A Historical Interpretation |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-1374-3867-6 |page=82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Orsina |title=Liberalism and Liberals |work=The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |pages=240–252, at p. 249}}</ref>

== Members ==
{{see also|List of Forza Italia leading members by political origin}}
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2014}}

Most members of the party were former [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] (DC): [[Giuseppe Pisanu]] (former member of the leftist faction of DC and Minister of Interior), [[Roberto Formigoni]] (President of [[Lombardy]]), [[Claudio Scajola]] (former Minister of the Interior and of Industry), [[Enrico La Loggia]], [[Renato Schifani]], [[Guido Crosetto]], [[Raffaele Fitto]], [[Giuseppe Gargani]], [[Alfredo Antoniozzi]], [[Giorgio Carollo]], [[Giuseppe Castiglione (politician)|Giuseppe Castiglione]], [[Francesco Giro]], [[Luigi Grillo]], [[Maurizio Lupi]], [[Mario Mantovani]], [[Mario Mauro]], [[Osvaldo Napoli]], [[Antonio Palmieri]], [[Angelo Sanza]], [[Riccardo Ventre]] and [[Marcello Vernola]] are only some remarkable examples.

Several members were former [[Italian Socialist Party|Socialists]] (PSI), as [[Giulio Tremonti]] (vice-president of the party and former Minister of Economy), [[Franco Frattini]] (Vice President of the [[European Commission]]), [[Fabrizio Cicchitto]] (national deputy-coordinator of the party), [[Renato Brunetta]], [[Francesco Musotto]], [[Amalia Sartori]], [[Paolo Guzzanti]] and [[Margherita Boniver]]. Berlusconi himself was a close friend of [[Bettino Craxi]], leader of the PSI, in spite of his own Christian Democratic and Liberal background (Berlusconi was a DC activist in occasion of the [[1948 Italian general election|1948 general election]]).

Many were former [[Italian Liberal Party|Liberals]] (PLI), [[Italian Republican Party|Republicans]] (PRI) and [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|Social Democrats]] (PSDI): [[Alfredo Biondi]] (president of Forza Italia's national council) and [[Raffaele Costa]], both former PLI leaders, and former PSDI leader [[Carlo Vizzini]] were later MPs for Forza Italia. Also [[Antonio Martino]] and [[Giancarlo Galan]] were formers Liberals, [[Jas Gawronski]] was a leading Republican, while [[Marcello Pera]] has a Socialist and [[Radical Party (Italy)|Radical]] background.

Even some former [[Italian Communist Party|Communists]] were leading members of the party, such as national party coordinator [[Sandro Bondi]] and [[Ferdinando Adornato]].

== Factions ==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2014}}
Members of Forza Italia were divided in factions, which were sometimes mutable and formed over the most important political issues, despite previous party allegiances; however, it is possible to distinguish some patterns. The party was divided over ethical (between [[social conservatism|social conservative]]s and progressives), economic (between social democrats and some Christian democrats on one side and liberals on the other one), and institutional issues.

Regarding the latter issue, generally speaking, northern party members were staunch proposers of [[federalism|political]] and [[fiscal federalism]], and [[autonomy]] for the Regions (in some parts of [[Veneto]] and [[Lombardy]], it was sometimes difficult to distinguish a member of FI from a member of the [[Lega Nord|LN]]), while those coming from the South were more cold on the issue. Also some former [[Italian Liberal Party|Liberals]], due to their role of unifiers of Italy in the 19th century, were more centralist.

A scheme of the internal factions within Forza Italia could be this:
* [[Liberalism|Liberals.]] Supporters of [[free market]]s, [[deregulation]], economic freedoms, [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] and, in general, [[Moral responsibility|personal responsibility]] and freedom. This group was basically formed by two wings: [[Classical liberalism|classical liberals]] (former members of the [[Italian Liberal Party]], most of them organised in [[Popular Liberalism]], as [[Alfredo Biondi]], [[Raffaele Costa]], [[Egidio Sterpa]] and [[Enrico Nan]]); former [[Italian Socialist Party|Socialists]], as [[Renato Brunetta]] and [[Paolo Guzzanti]]; others like [[Stefania Prestigiacomo]] and [[Simone Baldelli]]) and [[Libertarianism|libertarians]], as [[Antonio Martino]] (ex-PLI), [[Dario Rivolta]], [[Benedetto Della Vedova]] (ex-[[Italian Radicals|Radical]]) and his [[Liberal Reformers]]. The latter were more staunchly pro-United States than the former and supported the idea of transforming Italy into a [[Federation|federal State]].
* Liberal-[[centrism|centrists.]] They were more moderate than Martino and Della Vedova on economic issues, and more socially conservative on ethical issues, although not being totally sided with the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]]. To this broad group belonged people of various origin: former Socialists (as [[Giulio Tremonti]], [[Franco Frattini]], [[Giampiero Cantoni]], [[Amalia Sartori]] and [[Jole Santelli]]), former [[Italian Republican Party|Republicans]] (as [[Luigi Casero]], [[Denis Verdini]] and [[Donato Bruno]]), former Liberals (as [[Giancarlo Galan]], [[Giuseppe Vegas]] and [[Paolo Romani]]), some former liberal [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] ([[Giuseppe Cossiga]] and [[Basilio Germanà]]) and many others (as [[Giorgio Jannone]], [[Antonio Leone (politician)|Antonio Leone]], [[Gianfranco Micciché]] and [[Aldo Brancher]]). They were strong in Northern Italy and strong supporters of political and fiscal federalism.
* [[Christian democracy|Christian democrats.]] They believed in the [[social market economy]] model and were supporters of Catholic stances over ethical issues. Most former members of [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] were identifiable with this tendency (from [[Roberto Formigoni]] to [[Giuseppe Pisanu]], from [[Claudio Scajola]] to [[Enrico La Loggia]], from [[Guido Crosetto]] to [[Angelo Sanza]], from [[Maurizio Lupi]] to [[Giuseppe Gargani]], from [[Antonio Palmieri]] to [[Mario Mantovani]]), but also ex-[[Italian Communist Party|Communists]], such as [[Sandro Bondi]] and [[Fernando Adornato]], and an ex-Socialist as [[Gianni Baget Bozzo]], a Catholic priest who was in charge of cultural formation,<ref name="Moroni"/> fitted the category, along with former Liberals, as [[Isabella Bertolini]]. Some were more socially conservative than others (for example Formigoni and [[Theoconservatism|theoconservative]]s like [[Marcello Pera]]) and many of them were close to Giulio Tremonti, indeed this group and that described before were very close on most political issues, so that the two factions were often undistinguishable. They are probably the most [[Europeanism|europeanist]] wing of the party, along with former Socialists, but many of them were also the most [[atlanticism|atlanticists]] within it, as Adornato and Pera. In 2007 Adornato, Pisanu and Formigoni launched a faction named Liberal-Popular Union, but, the faction soon was disbanded as Adornato left Forza Italia to join UDC. Formigoni had also his own group, [[Network Italy]], mainly composed of Catholics active in [[Communion and Liberation]], to which group both Crosetto and Fitto showed closeness.
* [[Social democracy|Social democrats.]] The most [[Progressivism|progressive]] wing of the party, especially about ethical issues. They were basically former Socialists, as [[Fabrizio Cicchitto]], [[Francesco Colucci]], [[Maurizio Sacconi]], [[Margherita Boniver]], [[Giorgio Stracquadanio]], [[Chiara Moroni]] and [[Stefania Craxi]], or former [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|Social Democrats]], as [[Carlo Vizzini]], [[Nicola Cosentino]] and [[Paolo Russo]]. They considered themselves the true heirs of [[Pietro Nenni]], [[Giuseppe Saragat]] and [[Bettino Craxi]], continued to declare themselves 'Socialists' and were sided with [[Silvio Berlusconi]]'s centre-right because they saw the Italian centre-left as too hegemonised by the [[Democrats of the Left]], heir of the [[Italian Communist Party]], which was the harshest rival of the Italian Socialists from the Fifties to the Nineties. Forza Italia's social democrats were organised into four sub-factions: [[We Reformers|We Blue Reformers]], [[Free Foundation]], [[Young Italy (faction)|Young Italy]] and the [[Clubs of Reformist Initiative]].

Christian democrats and liberal-centrists were undoubtedly the strongest factions within the party, but all four were mainstream for a special issue: for example liberals and liberal-centrists were highly influential over economic policy, Christian democrats led the party over ethical issues (although there was a substantial minority promoting a more progressive outlook), while social democrats had their say in defining the party's policy over labour market reform and, moreover, it is thanks to this group (and to those around Tremonti, he himself a former Socialist) that constitutional reform was at the top of Forza Italia's political agenda. It is difficult to say to what faction Berlusconi was closer, what is sure is that his political record was a synthesis of all the political tendencies within the party.

== Internal structure ==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2014}}
Before being merged into the PdL, Forza Italia had a president (currently [[Silvio Berlusconi]]), two vice-presidents ([[Giulio Tremonti]] and [[Roberto Formigoni]]), a presidential committee (presided by [[Claudio Scajola]]) and a national council (presided by [[Alfredo Biondi]]).

The president was the party's leader, but a national coordinator was in charge of internal organisation and day-to-day political activity, similarly to the secretary-general in many European parties. Moreover, the party had thematic departments and regional, provincial or metropolitan coordination boards plus many affiliate clubs (Club Azzurro) all over Italy.

[[File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit 11 December 2008 (25).jpg|thumb|right|240px|Silvio Berlusconi shaking hands]]

FI is considered a prototypical example of the [[business-firm party]], in that it was strongly centered on Berlusconi, who had created the party to further his own private interests.<ref name=Hopkin>{{cite journal |last1=Hopkin |first1=Jonathan |last2=Paolucci |first2=Caterina |title=The business firm model of party organisation: Cases from Spain and Italy |journal=European Journal of Political Research |date=1999 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=307–339 |doi=10.1023/A:1006903925012|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raniolo |first1=Francesco |title=Forza Italia: A Leader with a Party |journal=South European Society and Politics |date=2006 |volume=11 |issue=3–4 |pages=439–455 |doi=10.1080/13608740600856470|s2cid=153444704 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonnet |first1=Nicolas |title=Leadership and Uncertainty Management in Politics: Leaders, Followers and Constraints in Western Democracies |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-1-137-43924-6 |pages=93–110 |language=en |chapter=Silvio's Party|date=11 August 2015 }}</ref><ref name="McDonnell2">{{cite journal |last1=McDonnell |first1=Duncan |title=Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties: From Forza Italia to the Popolo Della Libertà |journal=Political Studies |date=2013 |volume=61 |issue=1_suppl |pages=217–233 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.01007.x|s2cid=143141811 }}</ref><ref name=2020book>{{cite book |last1=Hloušek |first1=Vít |last2=Kopeček |first2=Lubomír |last3=Vodová |first3=Petra |title=The Rise of Entrepreneurial Parties in European Politics |date=2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-41916-5 |isbn=978-3-030-41916-5 |language=en|page=3|s2cid=219089498 }}</ref>

It has been claimed that Forza Italia had no internal democracy because there was no way of changing the leader of the party from below (although the party's constitution makes it possible). Key posts in the party structure were appointed by Berlusconi or by his delegates. Forza Italia's organisation was based on the idea of a "party of the elected people", giving more importance to the whole electorate than to party's members.

Party national-level conventions did not have normally elections to choose the party leadership (although the national congress elected some members of the national council), and they seemed to be more like events arranged for propaganda purposes. However, Berlusconi was highly popular among his party fellows, and it was unlikely he could have been overthrown if such an election had occurred.

Within the party there was a long debate over organisation. The original idea was the so-called "light party" (''partito leggero''), intended to be different from Italian traditional, bureaucratic and self-referential, party machines. This was the line of the early founders of the party, notably [[Marcello Dell'Utri]] and [[Antonio Martino]]. However [[Claudio Scajola]] and most former [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] supported a more capillary-based organisation, to make participate as much people as possible, and a more collegial, participative and democratic decision-making process.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

In a 1999 study, political scientists [[Jonathan Hopkin]] and Caterina Paolucci likened the organisational model of the party to that of a business firm, describing it as having "a lightweight organisation with the sole basic function of mobilising short-term support at election time".<ref name="HopkinPaolucci">{{Cite journal |first1=Jonathan |last1=Hopkin |first2=Caterina |last2=Paolucci |title=The business firm model of party organisation: Cases from Spain and Italy |journal=European Journal of Political Research |volume=35 |issue=3 |date=May 1999 |pages=307–339 |doi=10.1111/1475-6765.00451|s2cid=55453658 }}</ref> Several other authors have adopted this comparison,<ref>{{Cite book |first=André |last=Krouwel |title=Party Transformations in European Democracies |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2012 |page=25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Ruzza |author2=Fella |title=Re-inventing the Italian Right |year=2009 |pages=122}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first1=Aldo |last1=Di Virgilio |first2=Steven R. |last2=Reed |title=Nominating Candidates Under New Rules in Italy and Japan: You Cannot Bargain with Resources You Do Not Have |work=A Natural Experiment on Electoral Law Reform: Evaluating the Long Run Consequences of 1990s Electoral Reform in Italy and Japan |publisher=Springer |year=2011 |page=63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Richard S. |last=Katz |chapter=Political parties |title=Comparative Politics |edition=Third |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |page=207}}</ref> and have labeled Berlusconi as a "[[political entrepreneur]]".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Dwayne |last=Woods |title=The Many Faces of Populism in Italy: The Northern League and Berlusconism |work=The Many Faces of Populism: Current Perspectives |publisher=Emerald Group |year=2014 |page=44}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Richard J. |last=Samuels |author-link=Richard J. Samuels |title=Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2003 |page=322}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Francesco |last=Raniolo |title=A Leader with a Party |work=Party Change in Southern Europe |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |page=106}}</ref>

Given the perceived use of government responsibility to advance Berlusconi's personal and Fininvest's business interests during the period of Forza Italia-led government, the political scientist Patrick McCarthy in 1995 proposed to describe Forza Italia as a "clan" rather than a reform-minded political party.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Patrick |last=McCarthy |title=Forza Italia: The new politics and old values of a changing Italy |work=The New Italian Republic: From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to Berlusconi |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newitalianrepubl00/page/145 145] |isbn=978-0-415-12161-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newitalianrepubl00/page/145 }}</ref> In 2004, ten years after the emergence of the party and during its second term in government, Mark Donovan summarised that this still might be an accurate description. He asserted that the party (and the centre-right camp) was only coherent and disciplined when it came to questions that strongly concerned Berlusconi, while he allowed great liberties to the diverse factions in other issues that did not concern his personal interests.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Mark |last=Donovan |title=The Governance of the Centre-Right Coalition |work=Italy Between Europeanization and Domestic Politics |series=Italian Politics |volume=19 |publisher=Berghahn |year=2004 |pages=91}}</ref>

== Distinctive traits ==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2014}}
From its inception, Forza Italia used unconventional means in regards to European politics. Forza Italia's methods more closely resembled the American model, and utilized methods such as: stickering, SMS messaging, and mass-mailing of campaign material. This additionally included the widespread distribution of Berlusconi's biography, which was titled "An Italian Story" (''Una storia italiana'').

The party was heavily dependent on the image surrounding Berlusconi's personality. The party's anthem was sung in [[karaoke]] fashion at American-style conventions. There was nominally no internal opposition (although some critical voices raised up, such as those of Senators Paolo Guzzanti and [[Raffaele Iannuzzi]]). The party used TV advertising extensively, although this was slightly restricted following 2000 by a law passed by the centre-left majority of the time.

== European affiliation ==
Following its [[1994 European Parliament election in Italy|first European election in 1994]], Forza Italia MEPs formed their own [[Political groups of the European Parliament|political group]] in the [[European Parliament]] called [[Forza Europa]].<ref name="Sidjanski2000"/> In 1995, Forza Europa merged with the [[European Democratic Alliance]] to form the [[Union for Europe]] group alongside the [[Rally for the Republic]] of France and [[Fianna Fáil]] of Ireland.<ref name="Steunenberg2003">{{cite book|author=Bernard Steunenberg|title=Widening the European Union: Politics of Institutional Change and Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgyCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA215|date=27 August 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-49375-3|page=215}}</ref><ref name="Martens2009">{{cite book|author=Wilfried Martens|title=Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome: I Struggle, I Overcome|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhcF5cL9BoIC&pg=PA141|date=24 August 2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-540-89289-2|page=141}}</ref> Following an abandoned attempt to form a [[European political party]] with Rally for the Republic in 1997,<ref name="Martens2009"/> on 10 June 1998 Forza Italia was accepted into the
[[European People's Party group|Group of the European People's Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1998/giugno/10/Europa_Ppe_dice_Forza_Italia_co_0_98061010401.shtml|title=Archivio Corriere della Sera|website=Corriere della Sera|access-date=6 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413154547/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1998/giugno/10/Europa_Ppe_dice_Forza_Italia_co_0_98061010401.shtml|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> In December 1999 Forza Italia was finally granted full membership of the [[European People's Party]] (EPP).<ref name="JansenHecke2011 2"/>

== Popular support ==
The electoral results of FI in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1994 are shown in the chart below.

{{Graph:Chart
| width=400
| type=rect
| colors=#0087DC,#0087DC
| xAxisTitle=
| xAxisAngle=-40
| x=1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
| yAxisMin=0
| yAxisFormat=%
| yAxisTitle=% of popular vote
| y1=.210, 0, .206, 0, 0, 0.252, 0, .294, 0, 0, 0.209, 0, .236, 0, 0, 0
| y2=.306,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
}}

The electoral results of Forza Italia in the 10 most populated [[regions of Italy]] are shown in the table below.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| ||'''1994 general'''||'''1995 regional'''||'''1996 general'''||'''1999 European'''||'''2000 regional'''||'''2001 general'''||'''2004 European'''||'''2005 regional'''||'''2006 general'''
|-
| '''Piedmont'''||26.5||26.7||21.7||28.8||30.8||32.0||22.2||22.4||23.5
|-
| '''Lombardy'''||26.0||29.2||23.6||30.5||33.9||32.3||25.7||26.0||27.1
|-
| '''Veneto'''||23.7||24.0||17.1||26.0||30.4||32.0||24.6||22.7||24.5
|-
| '''Emilia-Romagna'''||16.5||18.2||15.1||20.4||21.2||23.8||19.8||18.2||18.6
|-
| '''Tuscany'''||16.4||19.1||14.3||19.5||20.3||21.7||17.8||17.2||16.9
|-
| '''Lazio'''||20.5||18.9||16.1||20.6||21.5||26.4||17.5||15.4||21.4
|-
| '''Campania'''||19.9||18.9||23.4||25.2||20.9||33.8||19.5||11.9||27.2
|-
| '''Apulia'''||{{efn|{{Lang|it|Forza Italia|italic=no}} failed to present a list.}}||20.7||24.6||28.0||28.7||30.1||20.4||26.8{{efn|Combined result of {{Lang|it|Forza Italia|italic=no}} (17.8%) and ''La Puglia prima di tutto'' (9.0%), personal list of FI regional leader [[Raffaele Fitto]]}}||27.3
|-
| '''Calabria'''||19.0||19.7||18.3||21.4||18.3||25.7||13.0||10.0||20.7
|-
| '''Sicily'''||33.6||17.1 <small>(1996)</small>||32.2||26.8||25.1 <small>(2001)</small>||36.7||21.5||19.2 <small>(2006)</small>||29.1
|}

== Electoral results ==
=== Italian Parliament ===
{| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"
|-
| colspan=6 | [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]]
|-
! width=13% | Election year
! width=16% | Votes
! width=6% | %
! width=1% | Seats
! width=8% | +/−
! width=18% | Leader
|-
! [[1994 Italian general election|1994]]
| 8,138,781 (1st)
| 21.0
| {{Composition bar|113|630|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|–}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[1996 Italian general election|1996]]
| 7,712,149 (2nd)
| 20.6
| {{Composition bar|122|630|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{increase}} 9}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[2001 Italian general election|2001]]
| 10,923,431 (1st)
| 29.4
| {{Composition bar|178|630|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{increase}} 56}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[2006 Italian general election|2006]]
| 9,045,384 (2nd)
| 23.6
| {{Composition bar|140|630|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{decrease}} 38}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|}

{| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"
|-
| colspan=6 | [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate of the Republic]]
|-
! width=13% | Election year
! width=16% | Votes
! width=6% | %
! width=1% | Seats
! width=8% | +/−
! width=18% | Leader
|-
! [[1994 Italian general election|1994]]
| with [[Pole of Freedoms|PdL]]/[[Pole of Good Government|PBG]]
| –
| {{Composition bar|36|315|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|–}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[1996 Italian general election|1996]]
| with [[Pole for Freedoms|PpL]]
| –
| {{Composition bar|48|315|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{increase}} 12}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[2001 Italian general election|2001]]
| with [[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
| –
| {{Composition bar|82|315|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{increase}} 34}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[2006 Italian general election|2006]]
| 9,048,976 (2nd)
| 23.7
| {{Composition bar|79|315|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{decrease}} 3}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|}

=== European Parliament ===
{| class=wikitable style="width:50%; border:1px #AAAAFF solid"
|-
| colspan=6 | [[European Parliament]]
|-
! width=13% | Election year
! width=16% | Votes
! width=6% | %
! width=1% | Seats
! width=8% | +/−
! width=18% | Leader
|-
! [[1994 European Parliament election in Italy|1994]]
| 10,809,139 (1st)
| 30.6
| {{Composition bar|27|87|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|–}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[1999 European Parliament election in Italy|1999]]
| 7,913,948 (1st)
| 25.2
| {{Composition bar|22|87|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{decrease}} 5}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|-
! [[2004 European Parliament election in Italy|2004]]
| 6,806,245 (2nd)
| 20.9
| {{Composition bar|16|78|hex={{party color|Forza Italia}}}}
| {{center|{{decrease}} 6}}
| {{center|[[Silvio Berlusconi]]}}
|}

== Leadership ==
* President: [[Silvio Berlusconi]] (1994–2009)
** Vice President: [[Giulio Tremonti]] (2004–2009), [[Roberto Formigoni]] (2008–2009)
** Spokesperson: [[Antonio Tajani]] (1994–1996), [[Paolo Bonaiuti]] (1996–2001), [[Sandro Bondi]] (2001–2004), [[Elisabetta Gardini]] (2004–2008), [[Daniele Capezzone]] (2008–2009)
* President of the President's Committee: [[Claudio Scajola]] (2004–2009)
** Vice President of the President's Committee: [[Carlo Vizzini]] (2005–2009)
* President of the National Council: [[Alfredo Biondi]] (2004–2009)
* Coordinator: [[Domenico Mennitti]] (1994), [[Luigi Caligaris]] (1994), [[Cesare Previti]] (1994–1996), [[Claudio Scajola]] (1996–2001), [[Roberto Antonione]] (2001–2003), [[Claudio Scajola]] (2003), [[Sandro Bondi]] (2003–2008), [[Denis Verdini]] (2008–2009)
** Deputy-Coordinator: [[Giuliano Urbani]] / [[Mario Valducci]] (1995–1996), [[Fabrizio Cicchitto]] (2003–2009), [[Gianfranco Micciché]] (2004–2009), [[Renato Brunetta]] (2007–2009), [[Gian Carlo Abelli]] (2008–2009)
* Treasurer: [[Mario Valducci]] (1994–1995), [[Domenico Lo Jucco]] (1995–1997), [[Giovanni Dell'Elce]] (1997–2003), [[Rocco Crimi]] (2003–2009)
* Party Leader in the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]]: [[Raffaele Della Valle]] (1994), [[Vittorio Dotti]] (1994–1996), [[Giuseppe Pisanu]] (1996–2001), [[Elio Vito]] (2001–2008), [[Fabrizio Cicchitto]] (leader of [[The People of Freedom|PdL]]'s group, 2008–2009)
* Party Leader in the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate]]: [[Enrico La Loggia]] (1994–2001), [[Renato Schifani]] (2001–2008), [[Gaetano Quagliariello]] (deputy leader of [[The People of Freedom|PdL]]'s group, 2008–2009)
* Party Leader in the [[European Parliament]]: [[Giancarlo Ligabue]] (1994–1997), [[Claudio Azzolini]] (1997–1999), [[Antonio Tajani]] (1999–2009)

== Symbols ==
<gallery>
Forza Italia 1994.jpg|[[1994 Italian general election|1994 general election]]
Forza Italia 1996.jpg|[[1996 Italian general election|1996 general election]]
Forza Italia 1994.jpg|[[2001 Italian general election|2001 general election]]
</gallery>

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|22em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{citation | last1 = Ruzza | first1 = Carlo | last2 = Fella | first2 = Stefano | contribution = Forza Italia | editor-last1 = Ruzza | editor-first1 = Carlo | editor-last2 = Fella | editor-first2 = Stefano | title = Re-inventing the Italian right: territorial politics, populism and 'post-fascism' |pages=104–140 | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2009 | isbn = 9780415344616 | postscript = .}}
* {{cite journal |last = Hopkin |first = Jonathan | title = Forza Italia after ten years | journal = Italian Politics | volume = 20 | pages = 83–99 |year = 2004 | jstor = 43039789 | doi=10.3167/ip.2004.200106}}
* {{cite journal |first=Duncan |last=McDonnell |title=Silvio Berlusconi's Personal Parties: From Forza Italia to the Popolo Della Libertà |journal=[[Political Studies (journal)|Political Studies]] |volume=61 |issue=S1 |pages=217–233 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.01007.x |date=April 2013 |s2cid=143141811 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Paolucci |first = Caterina | title = The nature of Forza Italia and the Italian transition | journal = Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans | volume = 8 | issue = 2 | pages = 163–178 | doi = 10.1080/14613190600787260 | date = August 2006 |s2cid = 154702539 }}
* {{cite book |first=Emanuela |last=Poli |title=Forza Italia: Strutture, leadership e radicamento territoriale |place=Bologna |publisher=Il Mulino |year=2001}}
* {{cite journal |last = Raniolo |first = Francesco | title = Forza Italia: a leader with a party | journal = South European Society and Politics | volume = 11 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 439–455 | doi = 10.1080/13608740600856470 | date = December 2006 |s2cid = 153444704 }}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.forzaitalia.it}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005002246/http://www.forza-italia.it/images/cdv/cartadeivalori.pdf Chart of Values]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005002334/http://www.forza-italia.it/images/cdv/ideechiavedelnostroprogetto.pdf Chart of Values – Key Ideas]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410065955/http://www.forzaitalia.it/images/grafica-2007/chi-siamo/credolaico.pdf Secular Creed of Forza Italia]

{{Historical Italian political parties}}

[[Category:2009 disestablishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Christian democratic parties in Italy]]
[[Category:Catholic political parties]]
[[Category:Liberal conservative parties]]
[[Category:Liberal parties in Italy]]
[[Category:Socially conservative parties]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1993]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 2009]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Italy]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Italy]]
[[Category:Defunct liberal political parties]]
[[Category:Political career of Silvio Berlusconi]]