Building on the rubble of eurocommunism: the PCE and the PCI in the 1980s

Abstract

This article will analyze the political and ideological evolution of the PCE and the PCI during the 1980s. It will explore the commonalities and differences that both organizations exhibited after their Eurocommunist period, a period in which they maintained very similar political lines. It will also examine the political application that both parties made of their theoretical and ideological output. To accomplish these objectives, we will primarily analyze their press, the discursive output of their main leaders, and the debates held at their congresses. In both cases, the study will conclude in 1988, at which point changes in leadership took place, leading to completely different outcomes: the dissolution of the PCI and the survival of the PCE.