San Marino is an independent nation in Southern Europe. With the capital city of San Marino, San Marino 2020 population is estimated at 33,942 according to countryaah. San Marino’s domestic policy has a tradition of cross-border cooperation. Government coalitions between right and left have been commonplace, and political issues have often been resolved by consensus and compromise.
During the 16th century, San Marino was ruled from the Catholic Church Costume with the Pope as supreme leader. In 1631, San Marino gained local self-determination.
After Emperor Napoleon conquered the Italian peninsula, San Marino came under the patronage of the French Republic. After Napoleon’s fall, the Church Cost was restored in 1815, but since San Marino’s status had not been touched upon in the negotiations, local leaders claimed that the area was now completely independent. The church cost, however, wanted to maintain its sovereignty over the area. The conflict lasted until Italy was formed in 1861. San Marino then signed a friendship agreement with Italy and succeeded in consolidating its independence.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Comprehensive guide to and popular abbreviations of San Marino, covering history, economy, and social conditions.
During the First and Second World Wars, the country remained neutral. However, the Allies bombed San Marino on a couple of occasions during World War II, for which the country later received financial compensation. For San Marino political system, please check computerminus.
After the defeat of the fascists and the partisans’ fighting against the Nazi army in World War II, the left parties were strong in Italy. This was also reflected in San Marino. Between 1945 and 1957, the country was ruled by a left-wing coalition between communists and socialists.
As the Cold War between the West and the East intensified in the late 1940s, the irritation in Italy increased over the fact that Communists sat in power in San Marino. The government of Rome stopped paying the financial contribution that San Marino received each year as compensation for the country not having its own customs duties and currency controls.
San Marino then decided, against Italy’s will, to open a casino, which turned out to generate good income. Italy responded by introducing border controls and preventing tourists from entering San Marino, and so Italy got through its demand that the casino be closed.
After 1957, coalitions ruled with the participation of both left and right parties. However, a communist-led left coalition came to power in 1978, and it could sit until 1986, when it was dissolved following allegations of corruption in one of the government parties.
The Communist Party then formed government together with the Christian Democrats, a coalition that lasted until 1992. The Christian Democrats, who were the leading bourgeois party, did not want to continue cooperation with the Communists, who despite the change of name to the Progressive Democratic Party were considered to represent the old kind of stiff communism in the social system. Eastern Europe which dissolved around 1990.
The Christian Democrats instead entered into a coalition with the Socialist Party, a collaboration that eventually solidified and led to a new election in 2001. The Christian Democrats were, as before, largely followed by the Socialist Party and the Democrats’ Party. After the election, the two largest parties again formed a coalition.
An important change in San Marino’s party system took place in 2005, when the two leading left parties formed the Social Democratic Socialist and Democrats’ Party (PSD). In the 2006 parliamentary elections, the Christian Democratic Party returned but remained the largest party with one third of the vote. The new left grouping PSD received almost as much but still significantly less than the two parties had before the merger. Many voters who were dissatisfied with the party merger voted instead for smaller parties, including a new Socialist Party and the remnants of the old Communist Party, the United Left.
The new government, which was formed after the elections, included the Social Democratic PSD, the United Left and the center Party Folkliga alliance (AP). Disputes within the coalition in 2008 led the AP to leave the government, which was forced to resign after the PSD failed to create a new majority.
After the AP joined the mid-right alliance Pact for San Marino, this alliance was able to win a majority in the 2008 parliamentary elections and form government. The pact for San Marino included eight parties but was dominated by the Christian Democrats and the People’s Alliance. The center-left alliance Reforms and freedom, dominated by the Socialist and Democrats’ party, lost the elections and ended in opposition.
The center-right government was forced to deal with a dramatic decline in San Marino’s economy in the wake of the euro crisis in Italy, which led to tax increases (see Finance).
