White Flower Explained

The White Flower^[1] (Italian: Biancofiore) was an informal name given to the electoral alliance of two Christian democratic Italian political parties for the 2001 general election,^[2] namely:

• Christian Democratic Centre
• United Christian Democrats

The alliance's name came from "O bianco fiore", the party anthem of Christian Democracy.^[3] The parties aligned themselves with the House of Freedoms centre-right coalition. It was led by Pier Ferdinando Casini. The list gained only 3.2% of the vote,^[4] short of the 4% threshold however, thanks to its alliance with the House of Freedoms, it gained 40 Deputies and 29 Senators.

In December 2002 both constituent parties merged with European Democracy to form the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC).^[5]

Notes and References

1. Book: Martin J. Bull . James L. Newell . Italian Politics: Adjustment Under Duress . Polity Press . 2005 . 54.
2. Book: Nicolò Conti. European Citizenship in Party Euro-Manifestos: Southern Europe in Comparative Perspectives . Nicolò Conti. Maurizio Cotta. Maurizio Cotta. Pedro Tavares de Almeida. 3. Perspectives of National Elites on European Citizenship: A South European View. https://books.google.com/books?id=R2cSBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA118. 2014. Routledge. 978-1-317-99576-0. 118.
3. Book: Robert Leonardi. Paolo Alberti. From Dominance to Doom? Christian Democracy in Italy. Steven Van Hecke. Emmanuel Gerard. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War. https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ6x8zmRAaEC&pg=PA122. 2004. Leuven University Press. 978-90-5867-377-0. 122.
4. Book: David . Hine . Chris . Hanretty . Games Advanced Democracies Play: The Coalition Crisis of April 2005 . The End of the Berlusconi Era? . Italian Politics: A Review . 21 . Berghahn Books . 2006 . 115.
5. Book: Tom Lansford. Italy . Political Handbook of the World 2013. CQ Press. 2013. 713.