The traditional alliance between labor parties and left-wing unions improved the living conditions of workers
and the development of the welfare state. This alliance also contributed to improve legitimacy and democratic
stability as a consequence of the equalizers effects derived from policies aimed at an equitable distribution of
the wealth produced by workers. The alliance between the labor parties and the leftist unions appears today
heavily eroded because of the profound transformations that have taken place in the productive system, in
the social composition and in the degree of international economic integration of the advanced democracies.
This contribution analyzes the political choices to adapt to changes made by labor parties and left-wing
unions. These choices caused a widening gap of the political paths of the “two wings of the labor movement”,
with the consequence - in some cases - of putting at risk the maintenance of the alliance itself.
In the first section the evolution of the alliance is examined in a comparative perspective. The second section
is dedicated to the Italian case where recently a significant relaxation of relations between the two political
actors has been registered. Again in a comparative perspective, the probable developments of the historic
alliance will be examined in the conclusive section.
